The Infinite Quest: A Novelization
by BentleyGirl
Summary: An adaptation of an animated episode from 2007 - only better! The Doctor and Martha are sent on a quest to stop an alien pirate from getting his heart's desire by finding the acient vessel known as the Infinite. Read and review, etc.
1. Prologue: Scourge of the Galaxy

**Hello readers and welcome to my next story for **_**Doctor Who**_**.**

**For this story, I've decided to take a break from the norm and do a novelization of an attempt at an animated **_**Doctor Who **_**episode. I should tell you how this came to pass. In 2007, while the third series was being aired, the children's spin-off show **_**Totally Doctor Who **_**released twelve short segments that formed nearly the whole episode. The thirteenth and final part aired in the omnibus when the series ended after only two series. Now being South African, I never watched **_**Totally Doctor Who**_** but I found out about this episode on Wikipedia and found it in five videos on YouTube. Some people found the animations of this episode to be a bit lacking which I agreed with, but the voice acting felt like the actors were very into the parts, David Tennant and Freema Agyeman especially being very much like their live-action acting, and it had a very good story. After a third or fourth viewing, I ran the story through my head and after a few tries and viewings, finally figured out how to put this story on paper. I'm still trying to get the DVD which has the bios for each character, so if you don't understand a lot of the story, then I'm sorry but it's the best I can do.**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own **_**Doctor Who **_**or the rights to this episode. They belong to their respective owners, blah, blah, blah, etc.**

**So with that out of the way, let's begin.**

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><p><em>Prologue: Scourge of the Galaxy<em>

_The Milky Way Galaxy_

_Sometime in the 40__th__ century_

From beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, a mighty ship was on the move. Shaped like a vast bronze eagle and powered by fusion reactors, it blasted through space like a missile, headed for a small and peaceful planet.

On board the ship, in the cockpit, the pilot scanned the flight computer for his target. He was quite a sight to behold, dressed in a stripy jumper, his face hidden behind a gas mask with glowing blue eyes and his right arm covered by a large robotic claw. Then, the computer flashed up the image of the planet and a voice chirruped, "_We have arrived at our destination: Sol 3, also known as Earth._"

"There she is," the pilot hissed to himself. "So peaceful, so delicate, so small I can reach out and-" He held up his normal hand over the image and clenched it into a fist. "Crush it!"

"Crush it!" the large robotic bird squawked out from in the cage behind the pilot's chair. "Crush it!"

"Quiet, Caw," the pilot berated his pet. "No time for your nonsense; this is my moment of destiny."

"Moment of destiny," Caw rasped with glee. "Moment of destiny!"

The pilot then pressed a button on the arm of his chair and spoke into the intercom to the lower levels of his ship. "Attention, armoury. Prepare plasma cannons for firing. Commence the countdown."

"_Acknowledged,_" the computer responded. "_Plasma cannons will be armed in T-minus four minutes and counting._"

Pleased with the news, the pilot got out of his chair and walked up to the observation window which overlooked the Earth below. "Soon, I will gain riches beyond the dreams of all men and nothing can stop me!" He raised his arms over his head and crowed, "I'll be the king of the world!"

"King of the world," Caw repeated from his cage. "King of the world!"

The pilot's laughter ran across the ship, but it didn't cover the loud grating roar that built up near Caw's cage. The robotic parrot turned his head round and saw something that wasn't there earlier; a blue box roughly his height with a light on top.

Then a door opened and a woman's voice rang out, "So where are we this time, Doctor?"

"In the presence of a great man," a man's voice responded.

"What the…?" The pilot turned round to see two figures emerge from the strange blue box; a young man in a blue pinstriped suit and red running shoes and a dark-skinned woman in a red jacket and jeans.

As the pilot watched, the young man turned to his friend. "Now you can forget your Bonapartes, your Boadiceas and your Blackbeards even. This, Martha Jones…" And at this, he indicated to the pilot. "This is Baltazar, Scourge of the Galaxy, Corsair king of Triton here in the 40th century and quite possibly the greatest despot that ever, _ever_ lived."

The young girl, Martha glanced around the cockpit with absolute awe. "Oh, Doctor, this is just… just…" She struggled to find the words. "Fantastic!"

"Yeah, it is pretty cool," the Doctor agreed. "Now the incredible thing about Baltazar-"

"Scourge of the Galaxy!" Caw interrupted loudly.

"Yes, thank you," the Doctor sighed before continuing, "Anyway, the most incredible thing about him is, he built this entire ship himself!"

"He didn't," Martha breathed.

"Oh yeah, by hand," the Doctor said. "Go on then, tell her, Baltazar."

"_T-minus three minutes and counting._"

Baltazar nodded his head slowly and approached the pair. "Your friend is quite correct, young lady. I tended this vessel by hand over countless decades. I forged the metals, built the engines and weaponry, and burnished her into the greatest warship in history."

"And not that long ago," the Doctor added, "you used your great warship to blow all of Earth's defenses out of the sky." He glowered at the pilot and whispered, "You really shouldn't have done that."

"Shouldn't have done that," Caw repeated, narrowing his eyes.

"They got in my way," Baltazar replied nonchalantly. "And now I'm going to cover the Earth in a field of plasma fire, superheating the carbonates that scurry over its surface."

"Really?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at this. "Plasma fire, eh? So all carbon-based life will be super-compressed by the heat of a plasma field, making…"

"Diamonds!" Martha cried out.

"Precisely! Well done, Martha," the Doctor agreed. "Yes indeed. Every living being on planet Earth turned into diamonds."

"Right," Baltazar nodded. "And the plan starts in seconds."

"_T-minus two minutes and counting._"

A small grin crossed the Doctor's face. "Now, that is a plan. That is indeed a plan. I've heard some great plans in my life but yours, oh that is just brilliant. Is that not the most incredible plan you've ever heard, Martha?"

"Oh, yeah incredible," Martha said uneasily. "But, we're going to stop him right?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor replied, slipping a hand in his pocket. "And I'll do it by giving Mr. Baltazar… this!" And he pulled out a small gold-plated teaspoon and held it before the corsair.

"What is that?" Baltazar scoffed.

"Just a little something I picked up in my travels," the Doctor replied. "Take it now and leave Earth alone. Trust me; I like to stir things up sometimes."

But Baltazar, unimpressed by the gift or the joke, simply raised his robotic claw and cut through the spoon as easily as it was a flower stem.

"Ouch," the Doctor winced as the broken utensil clattered to the floor. "You REALLY shouldn't have done that!"

"And he shouldn't have broken your spoon because…?" Martha prompted.

"Because that was no ordinary spoon," the Doctor replied as Baltazar turned back to his window. "That particular spoon was passed through the hands of the greatest chefs on Planet Earth; Fanny, Delia, Madame Cholet… that spoon was an antique! And it was forged by the now-extinct inhabitants of a planet which specializes in ribicola."

"A fungus?" she asked.

"_T-minus one minute and counting._"

"Oh yes," the Doctor replied grimly. "But not just any old fungus, oh no. This is a special hydroxiding fungus. There's been no treatment for it for the last 200 years…" He then turned to the pirate. "This is why, Baltazar, Scourge of the Galaxy, even as we speak…"

"Your deck is rusting away," Martha finished triumphantly.

"What?!" Baltazar glanced down to the floor and realized they were right.

From where the broken spoon lay, a circle of reddish corrosion was radiating rapidly outwards like the ripples in a pond and before he could react, the rust had reached out under his feet and he fell through the floor! "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As Baltazar disappeared into the lower decks, lights began to flash red across the cockpit. "_Warning! Corrosion detected! Countdown terminated!"_

Martha let out a yelp of alarm as the rust spread closer to her and the Doctor. "That's no ordinary rust, is it?"

"Uh, no," the Doctor admitted sheepishly as they backed towards the blue box. "See, it was originally too slow to react, so I pepped it up a little bit, gave it a bit of zing, a bit of va-va-voom."

"Va-va-voom!" Caw squawked out in alarm. "Va-va-voom!"

The Doctor opened the door to his box but Martha grabbed his arm. "Doctor, no. You can't leave him here, not to the rust."

Glancing over his shoulder, the Doctor moaned, "Oh, alright." He pulled out a small ceramic wand from his pocket and pointed it at Caw's cage. A loud buzzing rang out and the cage swung open, allowing Caw to spread his mechanical wings and take off down the lower decks so he didn't see the blue box disappear into thin air…

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><p>Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor bounded around the central control console, flicking switches and pulling levers. Then he noticed his companion glancing at the doors. "Are you alright, Martha?"<p>

"It's just that Baltazar still got away," she replied. "Will he ever get caught?"

"Oh I imagine so," the Doctor nodded slowly. "He's still wanted by the Earth authorities. His luck can't hold out forever."

"So what will happen to him, do you think?"

"In this year, the most likely prison planet for him would be…" He closed in thought. "Uhhhh… Volag-Noc. Yeah, that's where I'd take him if it was to me. Said to be the coldest place in the galaxy."

Martha shuddered at the thought. "Oooh, nasty."

"Yep," the Doctor agreed, staring into space for a moment. "They've got very severe sentences for any crimes ever committed. With my streak, I hope never to end up in that place."

Then he smiled and turned back to his controls. "Now then, I want you to give me a number between 0 and 99."

"Um, 45," she replied.

"Okay, now another."

"72?"

"Good and one more?"

"3," Martha chuckled. "What is this, galactic lottery?"

"Destination settings," he replied, as he pressed some buttons on the console and placed a hand on the take-off lever. "And you, Martha Jones, have randomly chosen to take us to…"Martha crossed her fingers, hoping for somewhere good. "Copacabana Beach!"

"Yes!" Martha cheered and the Doctor thrust the lever down with a cry of "ARRIBA!"

* * *

><p>Just behind Earth's moon, the large bronze ship was rapidly corroding away into nothing. As the rust hit the engines, the explosions lit up the depths of space like fireworks. Amid the chaos, a large robotic bird swooped into the stars with a masked figure clinging to its back.<p>

If anyone in the vicinity was watching, they would see the figure shaking his fist at the Earth and heard his curse to the heavens as he disappeared into space, "I'll get you for this, Doctor! I don't care how long it takes, but I'll make you sorry you were ever BORN!"


	2. The Quest Begins

**Here we are at the second segment I should say.**

**So let's continue.**

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><p>Chapter 1: The Quest Begins<p>

_Five years later (not for the Doctor and Martha though)_

Several light years from Earth, the silence of the depths of space was about to be interrupted. Behind a lone drifting meteor, an aperture opened in space and a small blue police box shot out like a pea from a peashooter.

Inside the box, the Doctor was a flurry of excitement. "YESSS! 670 million miles an hour and a bit! Rock on!"

Martha carefully let go of the control console and beamed at her friend. "You're just a boy racer, aren't you?"

The Doctor laughed in reply and Martha couldn't help chuckling too. It seemed like forever ago that she first entered this impossible vessel that's bigger on the inside and can travel through time and space. But since then, she had been invited to join the Doctor on his adventures as 'more than just a passenger'. Now they had just left the Time Vortex and she couldn't wait to see what happened next. But neither of them was prepared for what did happen.

Without warning, the TARDIS came to an abrupt halt. Martha stumbled back onto the railing and grabbed on before she could fall over while the Doctor was slammed into the console and thrown back into the seats.

"What was that?" Martha breathed. "Emergency stop?"

"Search me," the Doctor groaned. "It wasn't in the flight manual."

Martha could feel that the TARDIS was still moving but slower than usual. She staggered over to the Doctor and did a quick examination. She checked both his hearts were still beating and his limbs weren't damaged, but fortunately he only suffered a bruised chest and chin. She was about to tell him to take things easy when the TARDIS gave a loud thump and stopped.

"Come on then," the Doctor said, jumping to his feet and grabbing his overcoat. "We've landed. Let's see where we are."

Martha rolled her eyes as she followed her friend out the doors and took in the area ahead. They had landed on a balcony on top of a tall spire which overlooked a huge sky dotted with similar spires. A loud metallic squawking rang out and a large flock of bronze birds swooped past the spire. "I think I've died and gone to Bill Oddie heaven," she murmured.

"Bill Oddie heaven, Bill Oddie heaven!" a voice said from behind them.

The Doctor and Martha turned and saw another large metallic bird perched on top of the TARDIS, staring down at them with its glowing green eyes. "Hello there," the Doctor called up. "You must be the cause of our unforeseen detour. I have to say, it takes skill to grab a TARDIS in midflight."

"Grab a TARDIS, grab a TARDIS," the bird repeated, rotating its head 360 degrees.

Then Martha approached it closely. "Hey, I know you," she realized. "It's Caw, isn't it?"

The bird turned and craned his head down to look at her. "Welcome to Pheros, Doctor, Miss Martha," he replied. "It's Caw's home."

Martha smiled and rubbed her hand against the polished metal of Caw's beak. "How are you doing, Caw?"

"I like you, Miss Martha. Hold out your hand."

As Martha obeyed, he let out a loud cough and something small dropped out of his beak and onto Martha's hand. She let out a gasp of delight as she looked at it. It was a small metal brooch with a bird several times smaller than Caw in its centre, wings spread and little blue eyes staring intently ahead.

Caw nodded his head at Martha. "That's for saving Caw's life all them years ago."

"Thank you, Caw. It's really lovely," Martha said as she pinned the brooch onto her jacket.

"Don't I get anything?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, of course," Caw replied. He jumped down from the TARDIS and spoke in a hushed voice. "Caw's got some news for you, Doctor, about Baltazar. He's recently been let out of Volag-Noc."

"Volag-Noc!" the Doctor cried out. "I was right, wasn't I, Martha?"

"Yeah, never doubted you," Martha replied with a chuckle. "Caw, why would they release him from prison?"

"Governor says he's 'reformed'," the metallic bird rasped, "but Caw reckons he's as bad as ever he was. He'll be coming for Caw soon, cos Caw sold him out for a bar of gold… or three."

"What do you need gold for?" Martha asked.

"He, um… eats it," the Doctor whispered. When Martha gave him a look of alarm, he quickly explained. "Caw's kind is powered by a special fusion reactor built inside their bodies. Every bar of gold they eat helps power them for a few weeks. If their reactors burn out or they don't find enough gold, then they shut down forever."

"Baltazar won't rest, Doctor," Caw cried out, bringing the conversation back on topic. "He seeks his heart's desire and knows how to get it."

"He does?" the Doctor asked curious. "How?"

"By locating…" Caw glanced over his shoulder then concluded, "THE INFINITE!"

At once, the Doctor's face became serious, the most serious that Martha had ever seen him. "Oh, that's just a legend."

"What is?" Martha asked.

"Baltazar thinks different," Caw countered. "He claims he knows how to find it."

"Find what?" Martha pressured.

The Doctor bowed his head and turned away before answering in a hushed voice, "The Infinite."

"Yes, I got that," Martha replied indignantly. "But what exactly is the Infinite?"

The Doctor walked up to the edge of the balcony and stared into the sky for a while. "Well, let's just say there are things out there in space, Martha… things that predate our reality, relics of the Dark Times…"

"Oh, like a fairy tale," she realized.

"Oh, far, far more than that." The Doctor turned round and Martha saw a sinister glint in his eyes that she'd never seen before. "There was a time so long ago when the universe was so much smaller than it is now, a darker older time of chaos when creatures like the Racnoss, the Nestenes and the Great Vampires ravaged the Void. Even the Time Lords never ventured into that time period."

"And this Infinite," Martha ventured. "That's one of those relics from the Dark Times?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor nodded. "The Infinite was a vessel of incredible power. It had the ability to grant the wishes of its crew… up to a point, of course. Then one day, the Infinite simply disappeared and people have been looking for it ever since."

"Why would anyone want to look for a rusted old ship?" Martha asked.

"Because it's said that if anyone were to find the Infinite, they would receive their heart's desire." The Doctor let out a breath. "And frankly, that's quite a thing to receive."

"Well, yeah," Martha agreed, "but how's Baltazar gonna find it?"

Caw looked round then gave another loud cough which spun his head round before spitting out another small something at their feet. "That's how."

The Doctor picked it up, put on his glasses and examined it. The thing was a small round device like a miniature tag; on one side was printed a symbol that looked like an upturned number eight. "What is it?" Martha asked.

"It's a data-chip," the Doctor replied. "Part of a black box recorder. This is Dark Time technology! How did you get this, Caw?"

"Baltazar found it some time ago," Caw replied. "He gave it to Caw for safe keeping. There should be four of them in total. You need to use each data-chip to locate the next."

"And find all four, you find the Infinite," Martha finished. "Does that mean we're going on a quest then?"

"No," the Doctor snapped, closing his fist over the chip. "The Infinite stays lost, nothing more than a legend. And as the last custodian of all the secrets in the universe, it's my duty to see it stays that way."

With that, he dropped the data-chip on the ground and raised his foot to crush it. But Caw let out a terrified squawk of alarm. "No, you mustn't, mustn't! He's had a copy made in case the original was lost."

The Doctor started at that and lowered his foot. "I can't let someone like Baltazar, someone as corrupted and twisted as he is, have access to that kind of power." He picked up the chip again and whipped off his glasses. "All right, Caw. We'll stop Baltazar from getting the Infinite, but you'd better be right about this! My TARDIS should be able to read this thing so let's get going. Come on, Martha. We're going on a quest!"

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><p>Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor plugged the data-chip into his flight computer while Martha watched. "You're really worried that Baltazar's going to find the Infinite, aren't you?"<p>

"Remember the last time we met him?" the Doctor reminded her. "He tried to destroy Earth just to become the richest man in the galaxy. If he gets his heart's desire, he won't just stop at Earth, he'll have the power to turn every planet in the universe into diamonds… and he could get his revenge on us for stopping him."

Martha gulped at the thought. "Then we really have to stop him."

At once the computer flashed up the image of a small brown planet orbiting three suns. "Here we are," the Doctor said. "Hmmm, the planet Bouken. Ok." He set the controls and grabbed the take-off lever. "Here… we… GO!" And he thrust it down, setting the TARDIS towards its destination.

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><p>Caw watched as the TARDIS faded into non-existence then he turned to the gas-masked figure emerging from behind where the box used to be. "The tracker's in place?" Baltazar asked.<p>

"Tracker's in place," Caw replied.

"And they didn't suspect a thing?"

Caw chuckled and repeated Martha's words, "'Thank you, Caw, it's really lovely.'"

"Excellent." Baltazar chuckled with glee. "Then the Doctor's going to find the Infinite, he'll find my heart's desire for me…"

"Heart's desire," Caw gloated. "Heart's desire."

"And soon," Baltazar finished. "I will have my revenge!"

"Revenge, revenge!" Caw repeated, laughing with his master.


	3. Attack of the Oil Pirates

**On to the third segment and things are about to get interesting.**

**So here we go.**

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><p>Chapter 2: Attack of the Oil Pirates<p>

Sometime later, the TARDIS landed on Bouken and the Doctor and Martha stepped out onto the planet's surface. They found themselves on a vast desert plain under a partly cloudy sky.

Martha let out a sigh and wiped her forehead. "Blimey, it's roasting out here."

"And no wonder," the Doctor replied, looking up at the three suns overhead. "See that? That sun in the middle is real, but the others are artificial."

"Never!" Martha breathed.

"Oh yeah, someone wanted the planet Bouken warmed up."

Then a loud hooting noise rang out and Martha looked round. "What are those?" she asked, pointing to the horizon.

The Doctor turned to have a look and spotted several large structures that looked like giant insects. They stood on tall thin legs, their bodies were blowing smoke from chimneys on their backs, large sacks like an ant's abdomen hung from their behinds and a long tube snaked down from their heads into the ground. "Those are oil rigs."

"Oil rigs?!" Martha repeated in disbelief. "Hang on; we still needed oil in the future?"

"They ran out on Earth," the Doctor replied. "The major oil corporations went drilling elsewhere."

Martha shook her head in amazement as she stared at the rigs. "Wow, to look at them, you'd think they were alive."

At that very moment, one of the rigs turned its head round and gave a creak of alarm. At once the other rigs retracted their tubes, raised their abdomens, spread their legs out and turned to face them.

"You think?" the Doctor murmured. "Well, I think they actually ARE alive!"

As the rigs stomped towards them, Martha wanted to run back to the TARDIS but she and the Doctor were frozen in fear. "What do we do now?"

"Um…" the Doctor muttered, fear in his eyes. "I'm actually open to suggestions."

Martha stared in alarm but before she could say anything, a huge harpoon shot over their heads and stuck into one front leg of the nearest oil rig.

"How did you do that?" the Doctor cried out.

Seconds later, another harpoon flew out and attached onto the other front leg of the same rig.

"Oh, Martha, you are brilliant!" the Doctor cheered.

Martha was about to say she wasn't doing this when the ground started to shake beneath their feet.

"Oh yeah," the Doctor beamed. "Now you're just showing off."

Then they were suddenly lifted off the ground and up into the air. "WHOOOOAAAAA!"

A loud klaxon rang out behind them and Martha quickly assessed the situation. They were standing on the deck of a vessel that was part ship, part submarine. At the back stood a tall tower with a big TV screen on the front and on either side were the harpoon guns holding the ropes back.

Then Martha realized they weren't alone on the deck. Several figures in futuristic spacesuits and helmets that obscured their faces were standing in front of the tower. The largest of the figures was behind the steering wheel and a control panel. At first she thought that was the captain of the ship, but that thought was dispelled seconds later.

"Hoist the colours, Mr. Mate," a loud female voice called down from the tower. "Let OilCorp see that _The Black Gold_ is in business."

"Aye aye, Captain," the figure behind the wheel replied. He pressed a button on the control panel and the TV screen lit up into a shape that sent shivers down Martha's spine; a big skull on top of two crossed bones.

"Pirates!" she and the Doctor gasped.

"Aye," the figure bowed his obscured head. "The name's Swabb, first mate aboard _The Black Gold_. And who are-"

"That's enough prattling, Swabb," the captain's voice called from lower down the tower.

Martha looked up to see a curly-haired woman in her mid-forties standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a black outfit and wore a helmet that covered one eye. Then she spotted a piece of metal hanging from her ear. As the captain turned her head, Martha saw a familiar symbol on the metal, an upended number eight. It was the second data-chip!

"Now then, Mr. Mate," the captain's voice interrupted Martha's thoughts. "Put her in reverse."

"Aye aye, Captain," Swabb replied, pulling a lever on the control panel.

As the ship began to reverse, the captain turned to her stowaways. "You two might want to hold on tight."

Martha quickly grabbed the Doctor in a tight hug.

"To the rail!" the captain finished with a sigh.

"Aye aye, Captain," the Doctor replied, wriggling out of Martha's grip and grabbing the rail. Martha sighed and followed suit.

As they did, the ropes holding the harpoons tightened and the rig started to pull backwards, turning the struggle into an oversize tug-of-war.

"Take the strain, me hearties," the captain commanded.

"Heave, lads!" Swabb added.

Then just as the battle reached an impasse, the captain yelled, "All right Swabb, MAXIMUM POWER!"

"Aye!" Swabb cried out and thrust the lever forward.

Suddenly, the ship shot forward like it was fired from a slingshot and zoomed between the oil rig's legs, the ropes trailing behind. Before it knew what was happening, the rig's front legs were pulled underneath it and the whole thing toppled face-first into the sand.

The Doctor let out a whistle of admiration. "Well, that I didn't expect."

"Cut the thrust, Mr. Mate," the captain called out.

"Aye," Swabb replied, slowing _The Black Gold_ to a standstill. "Shall I pull the rig in?"

"And siphon it, Swabb," the captain nodded.

The Doctor then stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Hello there, captain…?"

"Kaliko," she replied simply, not taking the Doctor's hand. "Captain Kaliko."

"Hello, I'm the Doctor and that's my friend Martha Jones over there. We need to tell you-"

"Doctor," Martha called out, still gazing at the fallen oil rig. "Why are they attacking the rigs?"

The Doctor returned to his friend's side. "I have told you this is the 40th century. With no oil left on Earth, the last great oil corporations are sucking the solar systems dry to feed demand. Petrol prices have gone through the roof of course, and the colonies that can't afford to pay are dying."

"Aye," Kaliko agreed. "And the oil companies call _us _pirates."

"So you're smashing the oil rigs and…" The Doctor gasped in realization. "Oh I see… you're siphoning the petrol inside to sell to the colonies at cheaper prices!"

"Robbing the rich to fuel the poor," Martha added. "But that's brilliant!"

But Kaliko didn't smile back and turned to her first mate. "What do ya think we should do with 'em, Swabb?"

"I don't know, Captain," Swabb murmured.

"Can't hear ya! Turn on yer lights."

At once, Swabb's darkened helmet lit up inside… to reveal a sinister skull glaring at her, a robotic eye built into one socket! Martha gasped in horror and the Doctor stared round as the rest of crew lit up their helmets showing skulls inside, each more gruesome than the last. "A skeleton crew."

"Literally," Kaliko agreed. "It means less of a drain on rations."

Then she turned to the Doctor and Martha. "Now what I reckon is, to land up in a place like this, you dogs are either OilCorp spies…" Swabb's robotic eye narrowed at this. "…or planning a spot of pirating yerself."

"Or indeed, um none of the above," the Doctor added.

"Either way, I don't want ya aboard _The Black Gold_," Kaliko sneered. "So, ahoy there, me heartless hearties, throw these sand-lubbers overboard!"

Martha grabbed the Doctor's arm as the crew held up laser pistols and light-swords and slowly advanced on them…


	4. Mutiny on The Black Gold

**Segment four, and boy, have our heroes got a hurdle to cross.**

**So let's continue.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Mutiny on <em>The Black Gold<em>

As the skeletal pirates drew nearer, Martha turned to the Doctor. "Any ideas yet?"

"Still thinking," he whispered back.

But then, Swabb raised his laser pistol, shot into the air and called out, "Hold hard there, lads!"

As the crew halted their progress, Kaliko glowered at him. "Swabb, ya swab! Is this mutiny?"

"Yes," Martha hissed hopefully.

But Swabb shook his bony head. "Never, Captain, not mutiny."

"No," the Doctor groaned glumly.

"I just wondered if they be OilCorp spies," Swabb continued. "Mayhaps we could dispose of the bodies by putting them inside one of the oil rigs. Ya know, make it look like an accident?"

Kaliko rubbed her chin in thought. "Hmmm, you're not as empty-headed as you seems, Mr. Mate… Very well, we'll deal with 'em that way, using the rig we just keelhauled. Bring them to the bow."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Swabb said, pointing his weapon at the Doctor and Martha. But as they were pushed towards the front, Swabb leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry, Doctor, Martha. You're perfectly safe with me."

Martha glanced at Swabb then turned to the Doctor. "What's he up to?"

"Hmmm, I don't think our Mr. Swabb is all he's cracked up to be." The Time Lord's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I wonder…"

By then, _The Black Gold _had reached the scuttled oil rig. As Martha watched, one of the harpoon guns fired a long hose from its nozzle which imbedded itself into the side of the rig and then began to suck up the oil like milkshake through a straw.

"Excellent, me hearties," Kaliko smiled then she turned to her prisoners. "Said yer prayers yet, Doctor?"

"So… um," the Doctor replied, scratching his ear in thought. "Sorry, let me see if I've got this right. Once the rig is drained of oil, we somehow get inside it and… um… then what precisely?"

"Then me mate, Swabb will give a quick blast from his laser pistol," Kaliko continued, "igniting the remaining oil…"

"And OilCorp will find us dead inside," the Doctor finished grimly, "boiled in oil."

"That's murder!" Martha cried out.

Kaliko shrugged noncommittally. "Accidents happen, Miss Jones. Now then, me hearties, extend the plank."

One crew member flicked a switch on the control panel and behind the Doctor, a long plank slid out from the tip of the bow over the rig.

Swabb stepped towards Martha, his pistol raised. "Get ready to walk, sand-lubbers."

"Oi, careful with that," Martha scowled.

But the Doctor stepped in front of her protectively. "Uh-ah-ah, me first. Let me just say goodbye to Martha."

He threw his arm around her friend and lowered his head to her ear to whisper. "I thought Swabb would have made his move by now."

"What move?" Martha hissed back.

"He's no pirate. My guess is the only reason he thinks we're with this OilCorp must be…"

"That he is too?" Martha asked hopefully.

"Exactly, just keep your fingers crossed." He then let go of Martha and looked at Kaliko. "Okay, ready." And slowly, he made his way along the plank until he was at the end, his coat billowing in the wind like a cape.

"I like yer style, Doctor," Kaliko sneered. "Such a shame you have to die."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the Doctor yawned. Then he whipped out his sonic screwdriver and brandished it out like a dagger. "Now then, let us go or I'll destroy your entire ship."

"What?" Kaliko scoffed. "With that little thing? No deal."

"Oh I wish you weren't so obstinate, Kaliko. Oh well." The Doctor pressed the button on his screwdriver… but instead of the usual buzzing, a strained groaning coughed out of the device.

"Why isn't it working?" Martha hissed through gritted teeth.

"Patience please," the Doctor whispered back as he examined the screwdriver, holding it to his ear and shaking it. "Ah! Sand in the mechanism; hang on." He then placed the tip in his mouth and blew hard. Then after another shake, he gave the button another few presses. After a few coughs, the buzzing came again. "Ha, success!"

"And?" Kaliko asked, bemused by the sight.

"And," the Doctor said, holding out his screwdriver again and pressing the button, "Hold on tight!"

This time, the results were spectacular. Steam erupted from the engines, the skull-and-crossbones on the TV faded into static and sparks began to fly from the control panel.

Kaliko was furious. "OilCorp dog, you're damaging _The Black Gold_!"

"We're actually on your side, Captain," Martha shouted. "We came here to save you!"

"It's okay, Martha," Swabb called out, pointing his laser pistol at Kaliko. "The Captain's pirating days are over. I'm with OilCorp."

"Told you," the Doctor interrupted as he made his way back to Martha.

"You treacherous cur," Kaliko snarled.

"Sorry, Captain, but OilCorp promised me a new body to replace this bag of bones in exchange for your arrest." Swabb turned to the crew. "Same goes for the rest of you, me hearties, if you help me turn the Captain in."

"They'll never turn on me," Kaliko jeered, but then the crew raised their weapons and surrounded her, and her confidence fell. "Oh no."

"Thing is, Captain," the Doctor pointed out. "Swabb here seems to think Martha and I are with OilCorp too."

"You're not?" Kaliko asked.

"No."

"You mean, you're just… bystanders?" Swabb gawped.

"Pretty much," Martha replied.

"Captain, we've come here to rescue you," the Doctor added.

Kaliko's jaw dropped. "What do you-?"

"It doesn't matter, Captain," Swabb snapped. "Your time has run out. Oil rigs, ATTACK!"

At once, the remaining rigs stomped up and began shooting laser bolts from their eyes, intending to blast _The Black Gold_ out of the sky. But the bolts were flying wild. The Doctor ducked to avoid a blast, Martha jumped aside, narrowly missing another laser and one crewmember grabbed the wheel and steered the ship away, but the rigs pursued them, blasting as they went.

The Doctor pushed Martha down as another bolt whizzed over their heads. "Lucky those rigs are not great shots."

"Define 'lucky'," Martha yelled.

As the crew ran about in panic, Swabb stared in horror. "No!" he yelled at the rigs. "No! More precision! Fire with more pre-AAAAARGGHH!" A laser hit the deck near him and knocked him back.

By then, the rigs had focused their firepower and were blasting the ship with everything they've got. Some shots hit the engines and _The Black Gold_ began to tumble from the sky.

"We're going down!" Martha cried out.

"Roll with it, Martha!" the Doctor commanded.

Seconds later, the ship crashed into the ground, tossing up a cloud of sand. In the chaos, the Doctor was sent flying into the ship's wheel, the crew was flung off the ship, Kaliko and Swabb stumbled backwards and Martha fell onto the floor of the deck as _The Black Gold_'s engines exploded in a cloud of smoke…


	5. Escape into Danger

**Fifth segment on now, and the last part of the Buken adventure.**

**Also, I know someone out there is reading this. I want to hear your opinions please!**

**So let's continue.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Escape into Danger<p>

As the dust and smoke abated, Martha got to her feet and realized she was alone. The Doctor and Kaliko were nowhere to be seen and the rest of the skeleton crew was knocked out on the sand below.

"Doctor?" she called out uncertainly. Then a figure emerged from the wreckage of the ship, its back to her and she approached cautiously. "Doctor?"

Then the figure turned and Martha gasped as she recognized him. It was Swabb! "You! Where's the Doctor?"

"Forget it," Swabb snapped. "Your friend is gone and Kaliko's been dealt with, but at least I can think of a good use for you."

"Oh really?" Martha asked, disguising her fear.

"Yeah," the mutinous first mate replied darkly. "You see, my five-year-service award from OilCorp is that I get to choose a new body soon. And you know what?" He placed a gloved hand under Martha's chin. "I can see myself wearing yours… so delicate and slinky, yes."

Martha scowled at him but then she saw Kaliko emerge from behind him, nodding at Swabb as if to say 'keep him talking.'

So she pushed his hand away and stared straight at his socket and robotic eye. "Look you, me and the Doctor are not here to cause any trouble, right? We're on a mission, a dead important one, collecting these data-chips, you see, to stop this guy named Baltazar from stealing an ancient ship called the Infinite which will give him, well, infinite power I suppose and that's a bad thing because he's not a nice bloke and…" She trailed off as she realized Swabb wasn't following any of this.

But meanwhile Kaliko had pressed a button on the side of her helmet and a small laser had emerged, aiming at Swabb. Martha saw that and just smiled. "Hey, Swabb, look behind you."

Swabb turned on the spot and his jawbone dropped when he saw Kaliko staring right at him. "Time to die, Swabb… and this time, there be no comin' back!"

"Oi, don't leave me out!" Suddenly, a third figure emerged from the wreckage, a figure which, despite having a ship's wheel stuck on his head and arms, Martha recognized immediately. "Doctor!"

"Hello Martha, are you all right?" the Doctor asked, turning round to face her and smacking Swabb backwards with the wheel. "Oops, sorry."

Swabb stumbled back onto the still extended plank and Kaliko dashed up to the control panel and pulled the switch back, making the plank retract and sending Swabb sprawling into the sand.

Martha glanced over the railing to see and Kaliko joined her. "Will the vile dog live?"

"Well," Martha replied. "The sand seemed pretty soft so it probably broke his fall."

At that moment, Swabb rolled over and shook his fist, yelling, "I'll get you for this!"

Martha cringed at his words then smiled. "Yep, he's okay." Then she turned to see the Doctor struggling with the wheel on his head. "You need some help with that?"

"Yeah, could you?" the Doctor grunted.

With some gentle twisting of the wheel and a few protests from the Doctor, Martha managed to manoeuvre the wheel off the Time Lord's head.

As soon as he was free, Kaliko spoke up. "Doctor, back there, you said you'd come here for me. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Ohhh," the Doctor moaned, rubbing his neck.

"Well?"

"Um, your earring, Captain," he started. "Do you know what that is really?"

Kaliko stared in horror for a second but then smiled and let out a laugh. "Of course, I should have known. You're after the Infinite, you fool!"

Martha gasped as Kaliko turned towards the tower. "Wait, Kaliko, we can explain!"

"No need," the captain called back. "Now I was going to offer you both a berth on my next ship, but seeing as you had an ulterior motive in rescuing me…" She pressed a button on a secret panel and the door closed. Moments later, a large escape pod rose from the top of the tower and Kaliko's voice boomed out from the loudspeakers. "There's only room for one in my lifeboat anyhow."

At once, the pod rocketed into the sky, hidden in the light of the main sun. Then parachutes popped out and the lifeboat floated gently to the ground.

The Doctor and Martha watched its progress from the railing. "Looks like she's coming down near the TARDIS," Martha said grimly.

"We have to get after her," the Doctor said seriously. "If Baltazar gets that data-chip, locates the other two and finds the Infinite…"

"He gets his heart's desire," Martha finished. "The destruction of you, me and Earth!"

* * *

><p>Leaving the rest of Kaliko's crew to sort out the mess, the Doctor and Martha left <em>The Black Gold<em> and set off back to the TARDIS. As they spotted it on the horizon, a shadow swept over their heads, but when the Doctor looked up, there was nothing there.

"Look," Martha said then. "There's Kaliko's pod, right next to the TARDIS."

"Come on," the Doctor cried, picking up speed. "We can't let her get away!"

But as they reached the pod, a grim sight was waiting for them. Martha gasped in horror. "Oh no…"

Kaliko was still in the pod, but she was in no condition to go anywhere. Her suit was seared in three places on her chest and her helmet had fallen off her tilted head showing staring, frightened eyes but the data-chip was still on her ear. Martha took the captain's wrist to check her pulse and gasped. "She's… dead. Surely the fall couldn't have done this?"

"No," the Doctor said grimly. "She's been murdered." He let out a deep sigh. "Live by the cutlass, die by the cutlass, it seems."

"Oh, Doctor."

The Doctor stepped closer to the captain's body. "I'm so sorry, Kaliko." Then he reached his hands out to her. With one hand, he gently removed the data-chip and with the other, he slid Kaliko's eyelids shut. Then he stood up and turned to Martha. "We've got what we came for, Martha. Let's get back to the TARDIS and see where we're going next."

* * *

><p>Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor plugged in the second data-chip and learned the next one was a distant planet called Myarr. So he set the coordinates and sent his time ship off to their next destination.<p>

As the TARDIS flew on, the Doctor thought back to Kaliko's death. There weren't any footprints leading to and from the pod, so it couldn't have been Swabb but the data-chip hadn't been taken which meant Baltazar couldn't be blamed either. _Who else could have killed her then? I wonder…_

Just then, the TARDIS landed with a bump, interrupting the Doctor's thoughts. "Right, we've landed."

He grabbed his coat and looked up to see Martha was already running out the doors. "Hang on, hang on!" he called out as he followed here. "There could be anything out there – snakes as long as bendy buses; sabre-toothed gorillas; anything dangerous and-"

"Excellent," Martha finished as she stared at her surroundings.

The TARDIS had landed in the middle of a jungle at night. The trees were lit by the two blue moons and huge spires poked through the canopy like giant's fingers reaching for the stars.

"Right," the Doctor said, pointing to his right. "That way is Main Street, down there…" pointing to his left "…is the city limit, so that…" pointing straight "… is probably downtown. Come on."

As they set off, Martha glanced around her. "Where are the lights?"

"What lights?"

"Come on, a city like this should be full of lights especially at night."

After a few steps, a loud buzzing noise reached their ears and the spires suddenly lit up. Then from one tower, a long stream of green lights flew out towards them. As they got closer, the Doctor saw that the lights were shining on the abdomens of several huge wasp-like creatures.

"Doctor," Martha gasped. "They're bugs!"

"So I see," he whispered back. "And they're about to swarm! Back to the TARDIS, quickly!"

But when they turned round, they saw another swarm of bugs swooping towards them and soon the two swarms collided, trapping the Doctor and Martha in the middle!


	6. The Great Bug Battle

**Segment number six and we're going to war!**

**So let's get going.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: The Great Bug Battle<p>

The buzzing of the swarm was so loud the Doctor and Martha had to cover their ears. Martha tried to move forward, but the insects swooped down and pushed her back. Some landed on her back and she swatted them away. "Doctor, the bugs!"

"I know," the Doctor grunted, batting some insects away. "They're… swarming all around us! I can't get my sonic screwdriver!"

Just then, two glowing yellow lights flashed out from the forest and an echoing voice called out, "Go on! Get out of it!"

At once, the swarm dispersed and the insects on them flew away. As Martha and the Doctor got to their feet, they saw a hovercraft arriving and heard the voice again, nearer and not so echoic. "Well, what's the matter with you two?"

The Doctor turned to meet the owner of the voice. Like the pirates on Bouken, he was dressed in a sort of diving suit but unlike them, the face was clearly visible; very reptilian, with red and blue scales and a small crest of spines on its head. On his back hung a large scuba tank that fed water to the figure through two pipes on either side of its mouth and small gills flapped on his neck.

Then the Doctor's eye fell on the creature's neck, on which hung a small piece of metal with the symbol of infinity. They had found the third data-chip!

Martha had noticed it too, because she hissed, "Doctor, he's…"

"Yes I know," he confirmed.

The figure raised one scaly eyebrow and stared at them with his wide yellow eyes. "And what are you staring at?"

"Sorry about that," the Doctor said. "Thank you for the timely arrival, Mister…?"

"Mergrass," the figure answered with a flick of his tongue. "Ulysses Mergrass."

"Right, hello, I'm the Doctor, that's Martha." The Time Lord puffed out his cheeks. "It's a good thing those bugs listened to you."

"We have an understanding," Mergrass replied curtly.

"So I noticed," Martha sighed.

Mergrass continued, "I'm here to provide their community and their queen with protection."

Just then, a loud klaxon rang out that reminded the Doctor of the sirens during the London Blitz and a loud rumbling reached their ears. "What's that?" Martha gasped.

"What they need protecting from," Mergrass replied.

The Doctor raised his head up to the sky… to see a huge fleet of dark airplanes swooping across the sky! "Hang on, those are warplanes!"

Mergrass shrugged knowingly. "Well, what did you expect in a warzone, hot air balloons?

"Warzone?!" the Doctor and Martha cried out.

As they watched, large panels slid out of the sides of the warplanes as they neared the towers.

"Sonic attack incoming!" Mergrass cried out. "I'm going to the main hive!" And he drove the hovercraft off.

"You know what?" the Doctor said with a glance at Martha. "I think that guy's got the right idea. Follow that Anuran! _Allons-y_!"

As they ran off after the hovercraft, the airplanes went on the attack, blasting the towers with waves of sound and sending large chunks of them tumbling down. Soon, Mergrass disappeared into the base of the tallest spire but as they got closer, a warplane blasted a nearby smaller tower, sending it toppling towards them.

"Martha, LOOK OUT!" the Doctor yelled, picking up speed. But unfortunately, Martha stumbled and before she could recover, the ruins of the tower came crashing down on top of her…

* * *

><p>As Martha came to, she became aware of a very strong smell and as she opened her eyes, she found herself in a cave lit by glowing green lights… and the Doctor was sitting next to her, a smile on his face. "Pretty, isn't it?"<p>

"If you like that sort of thing," Mergrass's voice replied from behind her.

She turned her head to see the reptilian alien standing next to the entrance to the cave while the giant wasps brought in several large crates from outside. Two others were struggling to lift a large bomb from inside one of the crates. She got a shock when an insect lost its grip and the bomb bashed into the side of the crates… but amazingly there wasn't an explosion.

"Careful," Mergrass yelled, running up and lifting the bomb back in the crate. "Don't touch what isn't yours… yet. The breakages must still be paid for. Besides which," he added, pulling a slim device from his pocket, "they won't activate until I give your queen this key-coder to switch everything on."

Martha then saw the Doctor hold out his hand and she gratefully took it, letting him pull her up. "There you go." Then his face became concerned. "Are you alright? See, it turns out those towers were actually made of dung, not rock. But even so…"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Martha snapped, pulling her hand back. _That explains the smell._

But as she looked around at the cave, she felt her anger fade. The glowing lights had an almost calming effect and she smiled at the feeling. "It's beautiful," she breathed, "really beautiful."

"Well said, Martha Jones," a strange, nasal chirruping voice replied from the shadows.

With a gasp, Martha spun round to where the largest light was flashing… and suddenly realized she was staring at a giant, glowing abdomen. Looking up, she found herself staring at the face of a giant insect that looked like a cross between a termite and a praying mantis.

Immediately the Doctor was by her side. "Ah, right. Martha Jones, meet the Mantasphid Queen. Mantaspid Queen, ma'am, this is my friend, Martha Jones."

"Pleased to meet you," Martha stammered, "your… majesty?"

"Spot on," the Doctor whispered then aloud, "As I was saying, your majesty these alien attackers-"

"I do hope," Mergrass interrupted as he came over, "that you're not putting in a business proposition, Doctor. The bidding is already over and I've won."

"Mergrass is correct, Doctor," the Mantasphid Queen chirped. "We have our military advisor already. We do not need another."

"Oh, military advisor is it?" The Doctor turned to face the Anuran. "That's an interesting euphemism for gun running, isn't it?"

"Gun running?" Martha asked startled.

"In those crates," the Doctor explained, "Mergrass has a variety of weapons and bombs that he's selling to the Mantasphids. They're in the middle of a war and they need every edge they can get."

"But who are they at war with?" she asked.

At that moment, a swarm of Mantasphids came swooping in from the jungle and buzzed around in front of the Doctor, Martha and Mergrass. Then they flew away… revealing a huge insect-like robot with glowing eyes and two big claws.

"They've caught a pilot!" the Queen yelled. "Mergrass, they've caught a pilot!"

Martha and Mergrass were startled by this strange sight, but the Doctor took control, pushing Martha behind him for protection. "Stand well back. I want to see what you're up against."

The robot took a step back as the Doctor approached, murmuring, "Now… what are you?"

Suddenly, as if reacting to the Doctor's words, the robot raised its claws and stomped towards him, swinging them out at him!


	7. Friend or Foe?

**Segment 7 and a few surprises are in store.**

**So here we go.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Friend or Foe?<p>

"Crush it, squash it," the Mantasphid Queen yelped as the Doctor dodged several swipes from the robot's claws. "Get it away from me!"

Then Martha shouted, "Wait, Doctor. That thing is-"

"Trying to kill me, I know!" the Doctor cried, narrowly evading another lunge.

"No, it's panicking!" Martha finished. "Doctor, I think it's frightened."

The Doctor stopped and stared at the machine. "Oh." He suddenly noticed its movements were very erratic and its head wasn't even looking at him. "Oh, Martha, you are a marvel!" As he carefully slipped his sonic from his pocket, the robot reacted again, but he held his hands out and spoke gently. "Calm down, calm down. Shh-shh-shh. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to look at you."

He raised his screwdriver to the robot's head and started to scan it, but then the head split apart in a cloud of steam which quickly faded… to reveal the face of a terrified young human inside!

"Thank you," the young man panted, glancing around in terror. "Thank you so much. Training didn't prepare me. I wasn't-"

"It's alright, it's alright," the Doctor soothed. "Calm down, you're fine now."

"Sorry," the pilot sighed, composing himself and turning to look at them. He had cropped short hair, spoke in a soft Welsh accent and wore a helmet with a small camera and microphone by his ear. "The suit got damaged when I was taken down. There was no air left. When I saw the bugs around me, I-I thought I was gonna die," he whimpered. "I don't want to die."

"Well you didn't," Martha smiled. "You're safe and alive, and no one's going to hurt you."

The Queen however wasn't very pleased by the new arrival. "Fleshy biped," she hissed angrily. "We must be protected from fleshy bipeds. Destroy them all!"

"You can destroy them, your majesty, with the weapons you bought," Mergrass reminded her. "I'll just finish unpacking them."

As Mergrass left the cave, the Doctor turned back to face the young man in the suit. "What's your name, pilot?"

"Pilot Kelvin… sir," he added hastily.

"Well, Pilot Kelvin, what's wrong with you?" the Doctor snapped. "I mean, picking a fight with a bunch of defenseless bugs? I thought you humans were better than that."

"Eh?" Kelvin looked confused. "We didn't start this war!"

"Yes they did," the Mantasphid Queen countered. "The fleshy bipeds have been trying to exterminate us for weeks, wipe us out of existence!"

"No," Kelvin retorted, raising the robot's hands in defiance. "You don't understand! This planet Myarr – it was my home, where I was born and brought up. We were here first!"

"Is this true?" the Doctor asked, casting a suspicious glance at the Queen.

"Yes," Kelvin replied. "This used to be a lovely place. My parents had a homestead here, and then the bugs arrived and drove the people out. The Earth Command had no choice but to fight back and that's how the war started. I only joined up once…" he bowed his head sadly "…once my parents were killed."

"Killed, why?" Now the Doctor turned to glare at the Mantasphid Queen. "Why did you attack them?"

"For their land of course," the Queen replied without guilt. "So many lovely animals they had here… so much rich and wonderful dung…"

"You invaded this planet for dung?" Martha spluttered.

"Hey, don't knock it!" Kelvin cried. "It's because of that dung that Myarr's one of the last fertile planets in the galaxy. If it falls, there will be a famine like you wouldn't believe. We're already struggling to get the oil for our machines and now these bugs come in…"

Martha suddenly felt very guilty. She realized that Kaliko and her pirates would have gotten them oil at cheaper prices than the oil companies, but now that she's dead…

"Your majesty, if I may," Mergrass interrupted, returning into the hive. "My job here is done. I have now supplied you with the means to destroy your enemies. I must remind you that your contract stipulates final payment on delivery."

"Did it?" the Queen asked innocently. "Well, guess what, Mergrass… I LIED! There will be no payment. Mantasphids do not make deals with fleshy bipeds!"

Mergrass let out a groan of annoyance. "Typical Mantasphid… I knew I should have listened to the others."

"What others?" Martha asked.

"The other prisoners," the Anurian replied. "There was a Mantasphid among them. He tipped me off about this little war on here, so naturally I decided to do the deal."

"You were in prison?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, good grief, no," Mergrass chuckled. "I was merely a broker, a dealer. I would provide letters and gifts to the inmates and in return…"

"You got well paid?" the Doctor finished.

"Of course, but the governor always said you should never trust a Mantasphid."

The Doctor scratched his chin in thought. "The governor of… which prison was this? Volag-Noc, perhaps?"

"Volag-Noc?" Martha gasped. "Wasn't that where Baltazar used to be?"

Mergrass's eyes narrowed at this. "You know of Baltazar?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied. "Now, listen. That data-chip on your-"

But his voice was drowned out by the sound of the klaxons ringing from outside.

"The fly ships, they're coming back," the Mantasphid Queen yelped. "Bugs defend us! They'll destroy us all!"

"We're going to die here too, unless we get out of here," Mergrass cried out.

"Forget it," Pilot Kelvin shook his head glumly. "You can't get far enough away."

"Why not?" Martha snapped.

"Because Earth Command can't afford to lose this planet... They'll do anything to reclaim it from the Mantasphids." He lowered his head sadly. "You see, they'd even sacrifice me."

Martha gulped in alarm and the Doctor turned to the Queen. "Your majesty, listen to me. There might still be a way."

"Ah Doctor," the Queen chirruped. "This is a fleshy biped thing, is it not? Never say die?"

"Yes, exactly," Martha yelled.

"Fleshy bipeds are very stupid creatures," the Queen retorted. "But the fight goes on. We'll win this war yet!"

"Not while Earth Command has its secret weapon," Kelvin shouted.

"Pilot Kelvin," Martha asked. "What will they do to the city?"

"Well, the plan was complete spatial disintegration of this 100 mile vector."

The Doctor's jaw dropped in horror. "They're going to burn us out of space and time, leaving Myarr free for them to reclaim."

Kelvin nodded grimly as the sounds of the war planes began to build up. "Kills all known bugs… Dead."


	8. An Unconventional Surrender

**On to Segment 8 and our heroes have a doozey of a situation to escape from.**

**So let's continue.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: An Unconventional Surrender<p>

As the warships drew closer to the Mantasphids' hive, Martha turned to the Doctor in horror. "So we're just gonna stand here while they vapourize us out of existence?"

"Unless the Queen decides to surrender," he replied.

At that moment, having heard about her colony's fate, the massive Mantasphid had become completely terror-stricken. "Mergrass, what do we do?"

"You're asking me?" The Anuran arms dealer raised a scaly eyebrow curtly.

"You are my military advisor," the Queen shrieked in fear. "You know tactics, you know weapons. HELP US!"

"Sorry, your majesty," Mergrass retorted gruffly. "I would have happily helped you when I thought I was getting paid, but without the key-coder, the weapons are useless and without my money, you get nothing. Goodbye, you sniffling insect, you deserve what you're about to get…" And he walked out the hive without another word.

"Mergrass!" the Queen called out. "Mergrass, come back!" But her pleas went unheard.

"The rotter," Martha scowled.

"We need to keep track of Mergrass," the Doctor reminded her. "He still has the data-chip we need to continue this treasure hunt."

"But we can't leave the Mantasphids to die," Martha retorted.

"That's up to the Queen."

With Mergrass gone, the Mantasphid Queen let out a chirruping sighed and her antennae drooped in defeat. "It is decided," she muttered. "We have no choice but… to surrender… to the fleshy bipeds?"

"Ah, at last!" The Doctor turned to the young soldier. "Pilot Kelvin, have you got a communications system of some kind?"

"Yes sir, inside my helmet," Kelvin replied with a nod. "But I'm afraid it was damaged during the crash."

"Oh, we'll soon have that sorted," the Doctor beamed as he whipped out his sonic screwdriver. Carefully he pulled the helmet off Kelvin's head and set to work on the radio.

"Hurry, hurry!" the Queen urged. "We want to surrender!"

"And you will," the Doctor promised. "Just give me a few seconds…"

"But, Doctor," Kelvin said. "Our Command has no protocol for negotiation with the Mantasphids."

"Then make one!" Martha demanded.

"I can't!" Kelvin retorted. "They invaded our homes and killed our families, all for a load of dung!"

"They are also living sentient beings that have a right to exist," the Doctor argued. "Maybe not here, but somewhere in the universe… Ah, got it!" With a smile, he flipped the helmet up and plonked it back onto Kelvin's head. "Now, let's hear what your Command has to say…"

He pressed a button on the side and a voice then issued through the armour's speakers. "_Mantasphid hive destruction will commence in sixty seconds._"

The Doctor's face fell. "Oh, that's not good…"

"Please, Doctor, hurry!" the Queen pleaded.

Martha scratched her head in quick thought. "Doctor, listen… if the bugs can't surrender, then… surely _we_ can, can't we?"

The Doctor whirled round and stared at her in a look of surprised comprehension. "Martha Jones, you are BRILLIANT!" He turned back to Kelvin. "Pilot, tell them to open up a visual channel."

The pilot looked stunned. "What?"

"Just do it!"

"Hurry, Doctor!" the Mantasphid squealed.

* * *

><p>On the main brig of the Command's ship, the General watched on the screen as the Mantasphid hive drew closer. In a few seconds, the wretched insects would be destroyed and Myarr would be theirs once more…<p>

Just then, a loud crackling interrupted his thoughts and he quickly switched on his radio. "Yes, who is this?"

"_Control, this is Pilot Kelvin._"

The General got out his chair in alarm. "Pilot Kelvin, I thought you were dead! Where are you?"

"_Inside the Mantasphid hive._"

"What? But how-"

"_There's no time to explain, but it's imperative that you open a visual link to my helmet's communication link now. Please respond…_"

"No doubt the bugs want to give another of their 'we'll never surrender' speeches," the General sighed to himself but he responded, "Roger."

He pressed a button on the panel and the screen's image changed to static and then to his surprise, instead of the insect face of the Queen, the scowling face of a human in his thirties appeared on the screen.

"_Ahoy there, ye Earth Command nobodies!_" the human growled like a pirate. "_You got Doctor Vile, pirate of the seven constellations giving you a big white flag!_"

"What in the name of Earth…?" the General cried out as he grabbed the radio and shouted, "Who are you? What are you doing working with these bugs?"

"_Actually, these bugs have been working fer me,_" Doctor Vile replied. "_Fact is, me and me mad mucker Martha here…_"

At this, a dark-skinned woman's face appeared next to him. "_Arrr,_" she snarled. "_Avast and shiver me timbers, me hearties!_"

"_Uh, no, no, don't do that,_" Doctor Vile hissed as he moved her aside. "_Anyway, we've been ruling over these insect raiders, held their queenie hostage and forced them to conquer this here planet for our own means. But your pilot here tells us that you plan to vapourise us and, we has to admit, you've got us beaten. So, come on in and get us! We surrender! Arrr!_"

And with that, the face disappeared from the screen.

"Well I never," the General muttered.

* * *

><p>In the hive, the Doctor coughed a little and smiled. "Well, that should do it."<p>

"What have you done, Doctor?" the Mantasphid Queen cried out.

"I've taken the rap for you, your majesty, and ended your war."

"They'll never believe it," Martha scoffed.

The Doctor gave a sly grin. "Oh, you reckon?"

Just then, she heard the noise of the warships fading away and then another command issued from the speakers, "_All units, hive destruction cancelled. Your priority now is to apprehend male human codename Doctor Vile._"

Martha was silent for a moment then she let out a cheer. "YES! You did it!"

"It was your idea, Martha," the Doctor beamed.

"Yes but it was brilliant, don't you think… Doctor Vile?"

"Aye-aye, matey," the Doctor chuckled.

Kelvin just shook his head in disbelief and the Mantasphid Queen let out a purr of relief. "How can we ever thank you, Doctor?"

"That's easy," the Doctor replied, suddenly serious. "You bugs work with the humans, not against them. Why, young Kelvin here would make a great ambassador."

Kelvin started in surprise. "Me? But we don't have any negotiation protocols, remember?"

"Then we'll make one for you…" The Doctor turned to the Queen. "Now, listen, your majesty, the humans' farms are going to need power. Light and heat will be hard to come by in an oil-starved universe, right?"

"Right," Martha agreed. "And you are naturally phosphorescent, so you can offer your services to them."

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed. "Think you can make a deal?"

"Yeah," Martha finished. "You give the humans enough light and warmth to grow their crops and you will get all the dung you could ever want! So, what do you say?"

Kelvin glanced up at the Queen for a moment and then he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I think we can work out an agreement."

The Queen tilted its head in thought. "It is rather unorthodox… but I suppose we can help these fleshy bipeds… as long as we get all that lovely dung!"

"Brilliant!" Martha smiled then she turned to the Doctor. "So what's next?"

"We skedaddle out of here before any of Kelvin's mates arrive," the Doctor replied as he ushered her out the cave entrance. "Good luck, everyone!"

Kelvin and the Mantasphids waved them goodbye then returned to their negotiations.

* * *

><p>Once outside, the Doctor and Martha set off into the dark jungle at a run, hoping to get a head start on the human forces.<p>

"So what now?" Martha called out as they ran. "We catch up with Mergrass and go?"

At that moment, the Doctor skidded to a halt. "Oh, I think we've found him…"

Martha went up to his side and let out a gasp of horror. "Oh no, no!"

They had stumbled across Mergrass's hovercraft and lying next to it in a puddle of water was an empty spacesuit. The hoses were bent at an angle and the scuba tank had a hole blasted into one side. "What happened?" Martha breathed.

"Sudden dehydration," the Doctor muttered. "His tank was ruptured and without water to breathe, he just… shriveled away." He then spotted the data-chip still attached to the collar of the suit. "I'll take the data-chip and we'll go."

"We can't just leave him!" Martha cried out. "It's like Captain Kaliko all over again!"

"Isn't it just?" the Doctor agreed as he knelt down and pulled the chip off. "But Martha, we can't stay, we're criminals, remember? I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do for him now. Come on!"

* * *

><p>Soon, they were back in the safety of the TARDIS and the Doctor plugged the third data-chip into his computer. Martha watched him in silence, still thinking about all that had happened. In their quest to find the Infinite, two people who owned a piece of the recorder had been found murdered but the chips had been left behind, so she ruled out Baltazar in her suspicions. But nobody else knew about the Infinite's existence, if it existed at all, so why had Kaliko and Mergrass been killed?<p>

"Next data-chip's been located," the Doctor called out. "According to the computer, it's um… it on the uh… oh."

"Where?" Martha asked. "Is it somewhere bad?"

The Doctor ruffled his hair with one hand before turning around and asking, "Are you wearing thermals?"


	9. Peril in the Prison

**Segment 9 now and our friends are about to get a literally chilly reception.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Peril in the Prison<p>

"Come on, you!" the Doctor called over his shoulder as he marched on.

With a shiver, Martha struggled to keep up. The TARDIS had arrived on the edge of a great snowy forest but before she could consider getting a warmer jacket, the Doctor had bundled her outside, locked the TARDIS and set off across the fields.

Now she caught up with him as he stopped in the middle of the field. "Where are we going?" she shouted. "Where are we, full stop?"

The Doctor turned to his friend as he took out his sonic screwdriver. "Well, our friends Baltazar and Captain Kaliko wound up in the prison on Volag-Noc, right?"

"Right," Martha replied.

"And Mergrass said he used to work for the governor of that same prison, right?"

"Right."

"Well, that's where the next data-chip is, so here we are." The Doctor then started scanning the area with his screwdriver.

"Really?" Martha gasped. "But there's no prison here."

Right on cue, a circle of laser bars burst out from the snow to trap the Doctor but before Martha could react, she was surrounded by another circle.

"You were saying?" the Doctor asked cheerfully before disappearing into the ground.

"Doctor!" Martha cried out.

But then she felt herself get lowered down. She looked down and saw that she was standing on a small podium which sped through the darkness for a while before coming to a stop.

"I thought you'd never get here," the Doctor called out.

Martha turned and saw him standing on a similar platform. Then the area lit up and she got a good view of her surroundings. They were floating in the middle of a vast chamber with walls covered with big vault doors. Hanging from the ceiling was a huge globe from which the light shone out. "So this is Volag-Noc?"

"Oh yeah," the Doctor nodded. "And here come the warders."

As he spoke, three large robots flew out from the globe and hovered in front of the podiums. Each robot had one large red eye and a smaller red eye, long arms with a claw on one hand and what looked like a welding tool on the other and a hover pack in place of legs.

As the robot warders drew closer, the Doctor held up his hands to show he meant no harm. "Ah look, we're visitors. Visitors, mind. We just want to talk to your governor."

The nearest robot checked him over and then it thrust its claw through the bars and snatched the sonic out of the Doctor's hand. "Oi!"

"_This item is confiscated,_" the warder stated in a mechanical monotone.

Then another warder flew over to Martha, who was feeling very uncomfortable. "What?"

"_Scanning for malfeasance…_" The robot's eye flashed brighter and a beam of light swept over Martha. She cringed as she felt a tickle in her mind then the robot spoke again. "_No convictions and no confirmation of criminal activity._"

"Well, obviously," Martha replied.

Then the robot turned to the Doctor. "_Scanning…_" The beam swept over him then the robot spoke. "_Three thousand and five outstanding convictions, with six thousand more crimes to be considered._"

"Oh, that many?" the Doctor winced.

Martha stared at him in disbelief. "Doctor?"

"It's an unfair cop," he replied with a shrug.

"_Temporary confinement in Prison Cell 8-4-4-7,_" the first warden stated.

At once, the Doctor's podium shot downwards, followed by the third warder, into the lower cells.

"Doctor!" Martha called out.

She could hear him shout back but he was too far down for her to hear him properly.

"_The governor will see you now,_" the scanner warder told her.

"Oh, good," Martha grunted. "I think…"

The two warders flew back towards the globe and Martha felt her podium move and set off after them…

* * *

><p>Far below, the Doctor's podium eventually stopped by one of the vault doors and the lasers faded. The warder swooped beside the door and pressed some buttons. With a loud hiss, the door shifted forward before swinging up, revealing a darkened room.<p>

"_Please enter the cell,_" the warder told the Doctor. "_You will remain here until the governor delivers your appropriate sentence._"

As it spoke, the warder pushed the Doctor into the cell and then pressed the buttons.

"Don't bother closing the door," the Doctor called. "I won't stick around long."

But the door closed anyway and then a light switched on, showing the room's detail. There wasn't much to see, just a stool and a bed. And sitting on the bed…

"Oh, hello," the Doctor said in surprise as he stared at the figure. It was at least three feet taller than the Doctor and made of metal. One arm looked a lot like a small cannon. It turned its head to look and he could see that its face was completely robotic. Its mouth was more like a set of lights and its one red eye was smaller than the other.

The Doctor gave a friendly smile. "Well, you're clearly an android and I'm your new cellmate… temporarily at least."

The android's mouth started flashing and a stuttered voice came out. Clearly it was trying to speak, but was struggling.

The Doctor's smile faded and he knelt by the droid. "Are you alright?"

"_It… hurts,_" the robot managed to say in a strained voice.

"Well, don't worry." The Doctor took out his glasses and placed them on the end of his nose. "I'm the Doctor, now tell me the trouble."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Martha had arrived at the globe in the centre of the room. The door swung open to reveal a small office. She could see a desk in the centre with a set of files and a computer, and she could see the man sitting behind it. He had a grumpy looking face, a receding hairline and a ginger beard edged with grey. He wore dark-grey overalls and a small nametag that read 'Gurney'.<p>

As the warders escorted Martha into the office, Gurney looked up with a scowl. "What's going on, warder? Who's this?"

"_Apologies for disturbing you, governor,_" the scanner warder replied. "_But this young lady wanted to see you._"

"_She was accompanied by another man wanted for several convictions,_" the other warder added. "_We've scanned his mind and confiscated his machine._"

The scanner robot took out a small cable from its arm and plugged it into the computer while the other handed Gurney the sonic screwdriver which he glanced at with intrigue. "Interesting… This must be what caused the earlier disturbance."

Martha then decided to speak. "So you're the governor here? There's been a terrible mistake."

"We don't make mistakes on Volag-Noc, my dear." Gurney then turned to a wall behind him. "Safe, open!"

"But my friend's been…" Martha's voice trailed off as she saw the contents of the safe. There were many gold bars, bags of coins and a laser pistol. But her eye was on a now familiar piece of metal, with the infinity symbol etched on one side; the last data-chip!

Gurney placed the screwdriver inside the safe next to the pistol then commanded, "Safe, close!"

He then turned back to Martha. "You were saying?"

"Um," Martha muttered, still amazed at what she'd seen.

"Ah yes, your friend," the governor purred as he glanced at the computer screen. An image of the Doctor appeared and next to it, a list of crimes rolled past. "We're still collecting charges on him, but he's been a very naughty boy. Minor traffic violations, fourteen hundred counts; evading library fines, two hundred and fifty counts…"

"Oh come on," Martha scoffed. "That's nothing serious."

"Planetary demolition?" Gurney added.

Martha gulped. "How many counts?"

Gurney looked back at the computer. "Seventeen- no wait, eighteen."

"Ouch," Martha winced.

"And all dating back three thousand years," Gurney breathed. "My, he's been busy."

"Well, I'm sure he has his reasons," Martha mumbled.

"Maybe so," Gurney agreed. "But these charges have been extracted from his brain. He knows what he's guilty of. And they've earned him…" He tapped on the keyboard for a bit. "Let's see now… Two billion years in prison."

Martha gasped. "Two _billion?!_"

"He really should have taken back those library books," Gurney grinned then a message flashed up on his screen. "Hang on, there's more." He clicked on the message which showed the video of the Doctor's message to Earth Command. "There's something here about a Doctor Vile, wanted for piracy, as well as his accomplice…" He looked at Martha with narrowed eyes. "You!"

Martha gulped as the warders surrounded her…

* * *

><p>In the cell, the Doctor let out a sigh as he closed the panel on the droid's chest. If he had his sonic screwdriver on him, he would have found the problem in no time. No matter, he'd have to find it the hard way. So far, he hadn't learnt much else about his cellmate, only that his name was Locke and he wasn't sure why he was here.<p>

Carefully, the Doctor lifted the cover of Locke's head and began to gently fiddle with the wires, continuing with the story he was telling the droid. "So anyway, Caw then said… Uh, did I mention Caw before? Big metal bird, eats gold for breakfast? Anyway, he told us that Baltazar is after the Infinite, the legendary starship with the power your heart's desire. I think you might know Baltazar, nasty fella. He used to live here apparently… Anyway, we're having to chase around the galaxy stopping him from-"

"_OW!_" Locke suddenly yelped.

"Oh, so sorry," the Doctor cried as he moved his hand away, but as he did, his hand brushed against something hot. "Hang on…" He moved his hand back and then took a look. It was then that he spotted a small flashing diode plugged into Locke's main circuitry. "Wait a minute, I know that thing… You've been inhibited!"

"_I… have?_" Locke stuttered.

"Yes, you have," the Doctor muttered. "This device holds back any negative emotions and deadly actions. Basically, you couldn't commit a crime if you tried."

"_I could… not?_"

"Then you shouldn't be here at all. You must have been set up somehow. Oh, I'm not having this!" With that, the Doctor grabbed the diode and yanked it out.

"_Ah!_" Locke cried as his eyes flicked off. Seconds later, they switched on again and Locke spoke in a clearer voice, "_Thank you._"

"Right then," the Doctor proclaimed as he pocketed the diode and his glasses then got to his feet. "Time we got out! Oh right," he remembered, "no screwdriver, guess we'll have to dig our way out." He started patting the pockets of his overcoat. "Don't suppose you concealed a teaspoon on you? I lost mine earlier."

"_There is a more direct way,_" Locke stated as he stood up and raised his gun-arm.

At once, an orb of light shot out the end and blasted the door away. Locke then turned to the Doctor. "_Let's get going!_"

With a grim nod, the Doctor set off after the droid, wondering if he had done the right thing…

* * *

><p>In the governor's office, the warders quickly surrounded Martha but before she could say anything, the lights began to flicker and the computer's humming faded briefly. She looked up in confusion. "What was that?"<p>

"No idea," Gurney muttered. "Warder, what's up with the lights?"

"_Scanning…_" The scanner robot glanced around for a moment before responding. "_Power fluctuations have been detected, Governor. A cell has been opened from the inside._"

"Opened?" Gurney hissed. "Which cell? Where?"

"_Prison Cell 8-4-4-7._"

"What!?" Gurney exploded as he leapt to his feet, knocking his chair back. "That cell is off-limits!"

"Wait," Martha cried. "Didn't your tin pet put the Doctor in Cell 8-4-4-7?"

"No, that's impossible! I gave explicit orders that no one was to be put in there with the govern-um…" Gurney cut himself off.

But Martha caught him out. "The governor, were you going to say?"

"No, I um…"

Martha glowered at him. "I should have known you were a phony when I saw that data-chip in your safe! So if you're not the governor, who are you?"

Gurney sneered back at her. "Don't you get it? He's escaped. Your fugitive friend has let him out."

"And we've only been here five minutes," Martha chuckled to herself. "Nice one, Doctor."

Suddenly there was a loud thumping on the door and Gurney looked up in horror. "No…"

Martha turned round as the thumping stopped then a glowing light appeared at the top and began to sear its way around the door. "What's doing that?"

Gurney stepped back in anger and slight fear. "Locke… he's coming to get me."


	10. Bad Governor, Worse Governor

**Segment 10 and the danger's starting to ramp up.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Bad Governor, Worse Governor<p>

The Doctor watched grimly as Locke set to work on the governor's office door. On the way up, the android had explained that some time ago, his warders somehow turned on him, attached the inhibitor chip into his mind and threw him into the cell. The Doctor quickly guessed that this was probably an inside job done by one of the prisoners. Locke was furious at that notion, but the Doctor quickly made a deal with him; if Locke spared the prisoner then the Doctor would take the culprit off his mechanical hands.

Now Locke finished blow-torching the door. He stepped back and kicked at it, knocking it to the floor. The Doctor spotted Martha surrounded by two warders standing in front of a desk where a rather grumpy-looking man was standing. Martha turned and beamed at her friend. "Doctor!"

"Hello, Martha Jones!" the Doctor replied with a big grin on his face. "You'll never guess who I ran into in my cell."

Martha looked thoughtful. "Um, the _real_ governor?"

"Oh, you have guessed." The Doctor then stepped up to the desk and glanced at the man. "Thing is, if Locke here is the real governor, then who are _you?_"

"Warder, detain that prisoner!" the fake governor ordered, pointing at Locke.

At once, one warder's arm extended out and wrapped around Locke's neck. Then the other warder floated towards him, its one hand glowing red-hot.

The man then glared at the Doctor. "You don't know what you've done, letting him out. This robot has it in for me."

"Yeah, hang on…" The Doctor pulled out a small leather wallet from his coat pocket then handed it to the fake governor. "Hold this for a minute, will you?"

The man took the wallet, flipped it open and stared at the piece of paper inside. "But there's nothing on it."

"It's psychic," the Doctor replied, taking the man's hand and turning it round so he could see the paper. "And it tells me your name is Constantine Ethelred Gurney, prisoner of Volag-Noc- ah, I see! Convicted of larceny, black-mail, fraud, blah, blah, blah, released- Hang on, you were released last month!"

"That's right," Gurney retorted. "I did my time in this rotten joint. And when I got let out, I immediately broke back in."

"Well, that's new," Martha scowled. "But why?"

"Because of him," Gurney nodded at Locke who was still struggling with his own warders. "He's been getting paid richly for watching over the prisoners, living in the lap of luxury."

"Yeah, I noticed all that gold in his safe," Martha replied.

"He's an _android!_ He doesn't need all that wealth. But as for me?" Gurney's eyes narrowed. "There are people across the seven galaxies who still want my head on a pike, giving me funny looks everywhere I go, putting my face on wanted posters. 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.' Open brackets, 'Preferably Dead-'"

"Close brackets, yeah, I get the picture," the Doctor interrupted.

"I met quite a few people during my time in the joint; like that wack-job Baltazar and the feisty Captain Kaliko. But there was also this one guy, who sold me a nifty little program on the warders. It would make them see me as Locke and Locke as me."

The Doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "This one guy… name of Mergrass, by any chance?"

"Oh, you know him!" Gurney cried. "Great guy."

"Yeah, real charmer," Martha muttered sarcastically.

"Anyway, I quickly broke into Locke's office, loaded the program into his computer and ordered the warders to subdue Locke. And I've been keeping him safely locked up, until you two came along."

"Yeah, sorry about the mess," the Doctor said. "But this is important. I need to get the data-chip of the Infinite."

Gurney frowned at this. "Why do you want that piece of junk?"

But before the Doctor could explain, Locke broke out of the warders' grip and fired his gun at them, sending them back. "_Free, at last._" He then turned and glowered at the prisoner. "_Now it's _your_ turn, Gurney._"

"Not now, Mr. Locke," the Doctor snapped. "We had a deal, remember?"

"_No deals. Creatures like Gurney are beyond redemption. Their rehabilitation is pointless._" Locke then pulled out a small disc from the computer and flung it aside. "_Warders, hear me now. All prisoners on Volag-Noc are beyond rehabilitation._" His eyes narrowed. "_They must die._"

"_Understood, Governor,_" the warders replied. "_Commencing self-sterilization at your command…_"

"No, you can't!" Martha cried.

Locke ignored and simply nodded. "_Do it._"

At once, the computer flashed red and gave out a warning. "_Sterilization in 60 seconds…_"

The Doctor spun round, his face firm, and faced up to Locke. "Stop it right now! The prisoners don't deserve to die just because of Gurney!"

"_I'm sorry, Doctor,_" Locke replied stoically. "_But it's the only way to cure them._"

"Well, you won't take me dead or alive!" Gurney retorted. "Safe, open!" As the vault swung open, he grabbed the laser pistol, spun round and fired an energy blast right into Locke's chest. With a garbled cry, the droid stumbled back and slumped on the wall, his body sparking violently.

"_Sterilization in 45 seconds…_"

"Doctor, you have to save the prisoners!" Martha yelled.

"I'm on it!" The Doctor leapt behind the computer and began to type furiously on the keyboard, but the warning still didn't fade on the screen. "It's not working; this thing won't listen to me. Gurney, quick, we have to stop the killing! I need that program Mergrass sold you so the warders won't listen to Locke's orders anymore!"

"No longer my problem, Doctor," Gurney replied, running out of the office, his arms laden with treasure. "I'm getting out of here."

As he ran out the office, Martha spotted a piece of metal hanging from one hand. "The data-chip!"

"_Sterilization in 30 seconds…_"

"So long, suckers!" With that, Gurney leapt onto a platform and took off towards the surface.

"I'm going after him!" Martha yelled, jumping onto another platform.

"Martha, wait!" the Doctor called. "He's still armed." But it was too late, Martha had already gone.

With a groan, the Doctor went back to work on the computer, but nothing he could do would make the warning stop.

"_Sterilization in twenty seconds…_"

"Wait a minute, the inhibitor!" The Doctor pulled the diode out of his pocket. "If this could stop Locke from hurting anyone, then maybe…"

"_Ten… Nine… Eight…_"

Acting quickly, the Doctor tore off the back of the computer and plugged the diode into the closest socket. Then he stood up and watched the screen, hoping that this plan would work…

Then at last, the warning faded and the screen switched back to normal. "_Order terminated. Sterilization canceled._"

The Doctor let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, yes! There's skill! Now then, where's my- Ah!" He picked up his screwdriver from the safe and flicked it back into his pocket. "Right, now to get after Gurney…"

As he passed Locke, he paused and stared at the malfunctioning droid with some guilt. He somehow knew that Locke must have been programmed to act as irrationally as he did before. Maybe someday, after this quest was over, he would come back and fix him up a bit…

With a sigh, he turned to go but just as he reached the exit, there was a loud crash behind him. He turned round to find that Locke had toppled forward and crashed right on top of the desk, smashing the computer to pieces. "Oi, mind, you'll do yourself a damage."

Shaking his head, he leapt onto the platform and went up towards the surface, hoping that Martha was okay…

* * *

><p>On the surface, Martha ran across the icy plains, just as a blizzard came in. The wind whipped her hair out of place and the snowflakes caught on her eyelashes, almost blinding her, but she could just see Gurney as he approached the spot where the TARDIS was parked.<p>

"Give it up, Gurney!" she yelled over the howling winds. "There's nowhere to run!"

As she drew nearer, he could hear Gurney panting heavily, "Got to… get away… from here…" Then suddenly, he collapsed in a heap in the snow.

"Gurney!" Martha ran up to him, but he was lying very, very still. "Gurney?"

Carefully, she reached her hand out to feel for a pulse… but then he rolled over and pointed his gun right at her face!

"Ha! Greener than a seasick kitten, aren't you, my dear?" Gurney taunted, getting to his feet. "Now get me onto your ship and take me away from this place."

"I can't fly the TARDIS," Martha said.

"Is that so? Well then, you're of no use to me, are…" Gurney tailed off as he stared into the sky then he gasped in horror. "No… it can't be."

"What?" Martha asked.

Then suddenly a loud mechanical squawk rang out above her, followed by a familiar voice. "Revenge! Finally!"

Martha whirled round to see Caw come swooping out of the clouds towards them. Then she suddenly spotted a figure on Caw's back, a figure wearing a gas-mask and a huge robotic claw on one arm and she gasped too. "Baltazar…"


	11. A Deadly Deception

**Segment 11 is where all the loose ends will be tied up.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: A Deadly Deception<p>

High in the skies above the snowy plains of Volag-Noc, Baltazar looked down and spotted Martha and Gurney watching him approached and his glowing eyes narrowed. "The final data-chip, at last! Now my heart's desire will finally be mine!"

"Not likely, mate!" Gurney pushed past Martha and raised his laser pistol.

"Gurney, no!" Martha cried.

But it was too late. Gurney fired a blast which hit Caw right in the chest and with a squawk of pain, the robotic raptor wheeled out of the sky and crashed by the edge of the forest.

"Caw!" Martha took off toward the plume of smoke.

With a smile, Gurney turned and ran towards the rocket bay but as he spotted the ships, Baltazar caught up to him. "Oh, no you don't."

Gurney spun round and his eyes narrowed. "You…"

"Now, now, Constantine, let's not be too hasty," the pirate tutted. "Just hand over the data-chip and you can go free."

Gurney raised his pistol up. "Over my dead body!"

"Very well, then." Baltazar raised his robotic arm, switched on his laser blaster and fired…

* * *

><p>Martha ran through the frosted trees until she spotted the sprawled form of the robotic bird. "Caw, can you hear me?"<p>

Slowly, Caw raised his head and stared at her with half-closed eyes. "Miss Martha… is that you?"

"Yes, Caw." Martha knelt down next to Caw and petted his metal head. "Now tell what's going on."

Caw turned his head away sadly. "Sorry, Miss Martha… Caw's been a… dirty birdie. This whole quest was… all Baltazar's planning."

Martha nodded grimly. "So you were working with him all the time, weren't you? You sent him on this hunt for the data-chips on his orders."

"I'm sorry. It's the gold, see." Caw gave a deep rasping sigh. "Baltazar promised me… all the gold I could eat…"

"Oh, Caw…" Martha stood up and spotted smoke coming out of his chest. "Can you get up? We have to stop Baltazar."

Caw struggled to get up but he just slumped back into the snow. "I'm sorry. Gurney… He got me right in the fusion chamber… I'm done for, now…"

"Don't say that! There must be something I can do."

"There's not."

Martha turned at that voice to find the Doctor standing by the edge of the trees, the blizzard whipping his coat about like a cape. "Doctor," she called out, tears in her eyes. "We have to help him. We have to do something, please."

But the Time Lord simply bowed his head. "I told you before, Caw runs on gold fusion. Once his reactor's burned out, that's it." He turned to Caw and smiled glumly. "I'm so sorry, Caw."

The metallic bird simply nodded his head. "Va… va… vooooommm…" Then he closed his eyes and his body powered down.

"Caw?" Martha shook the bird's head but got no reaction. "Oh, Caw…"

The Doctor stepped forward and placed his arm around her shoulders but then a voice called out to them. "Good afternoon, Doctor. We have some unfinished business."

The Doctor and Martha whirled round to see Baltazar standing some distance away, his robotic arm pointed at them and Gurney's data-chip in his other hand. "Don't try anything clever, or I'll take off your friend's head. Now, take me to your ship."

With an angry scowl, the Doctor and Martha set off back to the TARDIS, Baltazar following behind them.

"You know, I always figured you were behind this," the Doctor remarked. "All this talk about having a copy made, when in fact, it's impossible to recreate technology from the Dark Times."

"Yes, I admit that that was sloppy thinking," Baltazar agreed. "But I knew you wouldn't allow me to get my hands on the Infinite, only now you're actually helping me achieve that aim."

Soon they reached the TARDIS and the Doctor reluctantly opened it. Baltazar took a moment to examine the inside. "So the legends are true, this ship _is_ bigger on the inside than the outside. Get in!" He shoved the Doctor and Martha inside then pointed his arm at them. "Turn around, hands in the air!"

"So how'd you find us?" the Doctor demanded as he and Martha obeyed. "It's very tricky to track a TARDIS, you know."

"Normally, you'd be right," Baltazar replied. "But I had some insider information. Tell me, have you met Squawk?"

"Squawk?" the Doctor asked. "Who on Earth is-"

"Doctor, my brooch is moving!" Martha cried out.

The Doctor spun round and saw that Martha was right. The tiny blue-eyed bird on her chest was flapping its little wings then it took off from the pin and flew towards Baltazar. "Oh no…"

"This little guy is Caw's son." Baltazar held out his finger and the little bird perched on it. "Baby Pheros-birds are born fifty times smaller than the adult, you see, so all I did was stick him on a pin and let Caw give it to you. And this little accessory has helped me track you every step of the way." He then turned towards the door and held out his hand. "Fly away, little birdie."

With a tiny high-pitched "Squawk!" the miniature bird flew out of the TARDIS and into the snowy plains.

"Very clever," the Doctor sneered. "Turning Caw's child… into an accessory to murder!"

"But surely that's you, Doctor?" Baltazar replied. "After all, you needed a little bit of help collecting the data-chips."

"Wait a minute," Martha gasped. "It was _you_ who killed Kaliko and Mergrass?"

"Guilty," Baltazar replied. "I knew my poor old cellmates, who told me all about the Infinite, would never willing give you theirs. So as well as tracking you, I was making sure that they wouldn't get too far."

"So Kaliko…?"

"I managed to catch her escape pod as it landed by your ship. Naturally she was surprised to see me and tried to shoot me." Baltazar pointed to a scorch mark on his jumper. "But her headgear was no match for my little weapon."

The Doctor nodded grimly. "And what of Mergrass?"

"I caught up with him just as he'd finished loading his craft. One shot to his water tanks, and that amphibious fool dried up like a raisin." Baltazar then tossed the last data-chip at the Doctor's feet. "And that one is Gurney's. He put up quite a fight, but well, you can tell who won this round. Pick it up."

With a scowl, the Doctor bent down and plucked the chip up from the floor. "So this is why you needed me, isn't it? You knew only my TARDIS can track each data-chip from planet to planet."

Baltazar gave a sinister nod. "For all its discomforts, Volag-Noc had a surprisingly large library. There's even a book on your once noble race, Doctor. When I read all about your amazing ship, I knew that only you would have something that could read data-chips older than recorded history itself. And now that you have all the chips, you can find the Infinite for me. Off you go."

With a helpless glance at Martha, the Doctor turned towards his console…

* * *

><p>Out in the growing blizzard, Squawk struggled against the wind. He'd been stuck in that position on Martha's chest for so long he was feeling quite stiff and was grateful for this chance to spread his wings. Anyway, he'd filled his end of the bargain with Baltazar so now he could be with his father again.<p>

After a while, he came across a large metallic form lying still in the snow. Carefully he perched on it to rest his wings then he suddenly realized that he was sitting on a large bronze bird. He stepped towards the bird's head for a closer look… and then he knew who this bird was; it was his father.

He pecked at Caw's closed eye and scratched at his beak. Then he saw the smoke billowing out of his chest and he knew he was too late.

Then he threw back his head and gave a loud plaintive cry of despair…

* * *

><p>Carefully the Doctor plugged in the data-chip next to the others and as he did, the scanner screen faded to static and the ceiling lit up with a bright green light.<p>

Martha gasped as she saw the light forming into a great whirlpool of stars and planets, and the Doctor put on his glasses to examine them closely. "That's the Hesperus Galaxy."

"Correct," Baltazar replied. "Next."

The Doctor twiddled some dials on the console and the image zoomed in on a cluster of planets. "Hmmm, that would be… the Ceres System."

"It's a map!" Martha breathed.

"And it's telling us the location of the Infinite," Baltazar confirmed. "Keep going."

The Doctor spun the dials and the image changed to show a planet next to a clump of asteroids, one of which was flashing brightly. "I spy with my little eye… Asteroid 7-5-7-4… B, was it? Oh yeah, definitely B."

"Excellent," Baltazar crowed. "Set the controls, Doctor. We're going there."

"The TARDIS isn't a taxi!"

"Set the controls or Miss Martha gets skewered!" Baltazar raised his claw at Martha's face and she gasped in fright.

The Doctor took off his glasses and reached a hand for the switch but then he pulled it back and turned to the pirate with a desperate face. "Look, Baltazar, the Infinite… It's a myth, a legend, and that's _all_ it'll ever be. But even if it does exist, even if it's at those coordinates on the map, even if it contains a _fraction_ of the power everyone claims it has, it will consume you, destroy you!"

"No," Baltazar purred wickedly. "It'll give me my heart's desire, Doctor, and nothing you can say will ever make me change my mind, not when I'm so close. So set the controls, NOW!"

Martha pleaded silently to the Doctor but the Time Lord simply bowed his head and set the coordinates into his computer.

"So that's the course laid in?" Baltazar asked.

"Yes," the Doctor replied.

"And all I have to do is pull that lever?"

"Well, more or less."

Baltazar then raised his robotic arm at him. "Then it seems I don't need you anymore, do I?"

"Oh, um…" The Doctor took a step back. "Uh oh…"

"No!" Martha gasped, running forward but Baltazar held her back as he powered his blaster. "DOCTOR!"

Then Baltazar fired and the Doctor gave a painful cry as the blast hit him in the chest then everything went black…


	12. Arriving at the Infinite

**We're at Segment 12 and we finally reach the goal of this whole story.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Arriving at the Infinite<p>

The blizzard was starting to die down over Volag-Noc and the snow was settling over the plains. Squawk landed by a half-buried body in the snow and started pecking at its cheek.

Then suddenly the Doctor gave a loud groan and sat up, shaking snow off his coat and throwing Squawk off his face. "Martha? Martha, where are you?"

Then a horrible thought crossed his mind and he turned round to where he'd left his TARDIS… only to find that it was gone. "Oh no… NO!"

He leapt to his feet and ran over to the spot where his ship had been. "Martha? Martha?" He looked all around him and then up into the heavens. "MARTHA!"

* * *

><p>Far far away, in the depths of space, the TARDIS spun on towards its destination. Inside, Martha sat on the passenger seat, feeling more helpless than she'd ever been. She couldn't have done anything but watch as Baltazar shot the Doctor with a stunning laser then thrown him out of the TARDIS before sending the ship off towards the <em>Infinite<em>.

Now she watched as Baltazar rubbed his hand on the central console, watching the pulsing time rotor with greedy eyes hidden behind his mask. "Soon," he purred. "It will all be mine."

"Don't get too comfortable," Martha growled. "The Doctor will come for me."

Baltazar gave a wicked chuckle at this. "Always have your glass half-full, don't you?"

Martha's eyes narrowed. "He'll. Be. Back!"

"No. He. Won't," Baltazar countered. "Your friend is now a thousand light-years away, alone in the cold. So just face the facts, my dear. You won't be seeing the Doctor again for a while, at least not before I get my heart's desire anyway."

At that moment, the TARDIS landed with a mighty thump and Baltazar looked at the screen. "Ah, looks like we're here. Come along." He grabbed Martha by the arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Wait!" Martha cried, struggling to pull away. "We're out in the depths of space! If we go outside, we'll suffocate!"

"Well, _you_ might," Baltazar retorted. "As long as I have this mask, I can survive in areas without oxygen. How do you think I make it through all those trips riding on Caw's back? Besides, the TARDIS's environmental scanner tells me that the _Infinite_ has a protective, high-gravity force-field surrounding it, even after thousands of years. You'll live."

With that, he pushed the doors open and they stepped out onto the asteroid's surface. Martha took a moment to glance around her. The depths of the cosmos stretched out around her as far as the eye could see. Asteroids floated around them like glowing clouds. Then she turned and gasped as she saw the massive ship before her, jammed right into the asteroid itself, rusted and corroded with years of being forgotten. "She's huge!"

"The wreck of the _Infinite_, at last…" Baltazar stepped closer to the shipwreck, dragging Martha along with him. "She was smashed to bits centuries back. Flotsam and jetsam spread out over half the galaxy."

"Tell me, Baltazar," Martha asked, wincing at the pirate's tight grip. "How did you come across your data-chip?"

"It was among the collection of loot I'd come across when I first built my ship, the one that you and the Doctor destroyed, by the way. Don't think I've forgotten that!" Baltazar's robotic eyes narrowed at her for a moment. "Then when I was in Volag-Noc, I was quite amazed to discover that Kaliko, Mergrass and Gurney had also come across pieces of the flight recorder."

"Ah, and they wouldn't share them with you?"

"Not even with each other." Baltazar then looked round. "Ah-ha, here's where we get in!"

Martha turned to see a huge gash in the side of the ship. As she drew closer, she saw by the light of a passing asteroid that the gash was roughly shaped like a cross. "I guess X marks the spot."

"Indeed." Baltazar then handed her a torch and pushed her towards the gash. "Now then, go in there and search for the treasure. When you find it, give me a shout and I'll come and claim my prize."

Martha could tell from his voice that he intended to kill her once he got what he wanted, but she didn't have any choice. She nodded. "All right."

Baltazar pointed inside. "In you go."

As Martha stepped inside, she switched on the torch and cast its beam around the rusty passageway. Looking around the chamber, she gave a sad sigh. "Oh Doctor, I'd give anything to see you again…"

"What was that?" Baltazar called out from the entrance.

"Nothing!" Martha called back.

"Thought so. Now, you're looking for the hold. That's where the treasure would be."

"The hold? But wouldn't that be-" Suddenly the floor gave way beneath her feet and she fell with a cry into the shadows.

"Down." Baltazar nodded curtly. "Yep."

* * *

><p>After falling for what felt like forever, Martha landed with a painful thud on some wooden crates. With a groan, she got up and found herself in pitch darkness. She fumbled around for the torch, but it had shattered from the impact.<p>

With a sigh, she gave herself a quick medical check-out. "Diagnosis: no bones broken. Well, that's something."

Carefully she got to her feet and set off through the darkness, feeling her way blindly along the wall. As an asteroid flew past the windows, she caught a glimpse of something moving ahead of her. "Hello?"

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the doorway before her and Martha jumped in fright. "Hello?"

"Hello," a hushed whisper replied.

Then the figure stepped forward into the light and Martha gasped as she saw its messy brown hair, its cheeky grin and those cheery brown eyes. "Doctor!" she cried, running up to him. "I knew it! I knew you'd be back for me!" Then she stopped and frowned. "Wait a minute, how…?"

"Shhh," the Doctor hissed, putting a finger to his lips. Then he came closer and grabbed Martha in a big hug.

* * *

><p>Up above, Baltazar began to get worried. It had been ten minutes since Martha had fallen into the hold but she hadn't given any sign that she had found the treasure.<p>

"Girl?" he called out into the ship. "Girly?" He slowly stepped closer to the hole. "Martha?"

"Watch out below!"

"What?" Baltazar whirled round to see a giant bronze bird swooping out from the asteroids towards him. And clinging on to its back, an oxygen mask all but covering his whole face, was the Doctor!

"Ahoy there, Baltazar!" the Doctor called out. "Have you met Squawk?"

Baltazar's eyes widened. "Squawk?"

"Yep, that's me," the big bird replied. "I'm all grown up now. Squawk!"

With that, the bird soared around the asteroid, looking for a spot to land. Baltazar watched his clumsy attempts, laughing to himself.

"Steady now," the Doctor called out. "We haven't got the hang of this landing yet!"

"Hold tight!" Squawk stretched out his feet and stumbled awkwardly across the rocky surface. Quickly he raised his toes and skidded to a sudden halt, throwing the Doctor over his head and sending him sprawling onto the asteroid.

"Doctor!" Squawk cried, moving towards him.

Baltazar beat the bird to it, and he rolled the Doctor over with his foot. "Out for the count, I'm afraid, Squawk." He turned to the bird and shook his finger. "I really thought I could rely on you, at least."

"Doctor told Squawk everything about you," the robotic bird rasped, his eyes narrowing in anger. "He said you were a bad influence, like you were with me dad."

"That may be true," Baltazar admitted. "But it was for a noble cause. For now, I have exactly what you need. Gold! Lots and lots of lovely glittering gold, enough to keep you fed for years!"

Squawk's beak dropped in amazement. "Gold?"

"Oi!" a voice cried out.

Baltazar turned at this, and was hit right in the face by an oxygen mask, slumping to the ground.

Squawk looked up in surprise. "Doctor, you're alright!"

"More or less," the Doctor replied, getting to his feet with a stern face. "And what do I keep telling you all this time? Don't listen to the villains!"

Squawk bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure he doesn't get away."

Just then Baltazar sat up with a groan. "Ow… that hurt!"

"You think so?" The Doctor scowled, all joviality gone from his voice. "I don't think I tried hard enough."

Suddenly Baltazar felt very afraid of this being standing over him and he tried to crawl away but Squawk stamped his foot onto his legs, pinning him down. Then the Doctor knelt down, grabbed his jumper and pulled him close. "Now then, where is she? Where's Martha Jones?"

* * *

><p>Down in the hold, Martha felt a great comfort in the Doctor's embrace, but something was still troubling her. "Listen, I'm glad you're here and all, but what about the treasure?"<p>

The Doctor looked down at her with his kind eyes. "You've found it, haven't you? Your heart's desire…"

Suddenly, Martha recalled her last thought before she fell. _I'd give anything to see you again… _"Of course," she breathed, pulling out of the Doctor's grip. "You're not really the Doctor, are you?" She chuckled at her mistake. "My heart's desire indeed."

"Yes, indeed." At that moment, something changed about the Doctor. His body began to spark and flash, and his eyes faded into glowing lights of malevolence. When he spoke, his voice shifted into a sinister cadence. "You've been hunting your heart's desire for a long time… and now, you have it!"

"No!" Martha gasped in horror and tried to run, but the fake Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her back as he opened his mouth, the blue light flashing out and making him look like a glowing blue jack-o-lantern.

"Noooo!" Martha screamed, trying to pull away. But something about this figure was draining her strength and she fell to her knees as he started to lean over her…


	13. Journey's End

**We finally reached the final segment! The adventure ends right here.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Journey's End<p>

"Excuse me, but I think that's my friend that you're scaring!"

Martha turned at that voice to see another figure approaching her, also looking like the Doctor but she was feeling too drowsy to even care. "Hiya," she called out hoarsely. "Can you make this guy go away?"

"That's up to you, I'm afraid," the Doctor told her. "After all, you conjured him up."

"But how?" Martha tried to pull away again but the phony Doctor's grip was too tight. "How am I supposed to-?"

"The heart's desire," the Doctor replied.

"But that was…" Martha sighed and bowed her head. "I only wanted to see you again, but… I don't believe I ever wanted this."

Suddenly she felt the fake Doctor's grip loosen for a moment and she looked up and saw him flicker for a moment. "Gotcha!" With renewed strength, she got to her feet and stared defiantly at this figure. "I said, I don't believe this!"

At once, the figure flashed bright blue and then faded away. "Oh YES!" Martha cheered.

The Doctor smiled at Martha's victory. Then he became aware of a faint voice calling out to him. He turned around to see… but then he looked away again. "Oh, don't even try to find my heart's desire."

As the voice faded, Martha ran over and grabbed him in a big hug. "Hello, you. Proper you."

The Doctor chuckled and hugged her back then pulled away with an indignant look. "Now then, Martha, aren't you going to ask me how I got here and hear about my adventures on Volag-Noc? How I bottle-fed Squawk on molten gold until he was at proper flying age? How I managed to repair and reprogram Locke to run a better prison? Come on, it has been three years, you know?"

Martha gasped. "Three years?"

"Well, two and three quarters. I regained a bit of time by flying past light-speed, of course."

"Light-speed? But how?"

"Well, Squawk's engines were running a bit slow, so I gave them a little pep, a little zing, a little-"

"Va-va-voom?"

"Yeah."

Martha squeezed him tight. "I knew you'd be back."

"Never let you down, have I?" The Doctor then took her hand. "Now come on, I had to abandon Baltazar when I heard you scream. Who knows what's happening to him now?"

As they set off across the rusty hallways, Martha glanced around her. "So, this is the _Infinite_?"

"Oh yes. Every pirate and freebooter and treasure hunter have been searching all over the galaxy for it, each one dreaming of being the first one to find it."

"And receiving their heart's desire." Martha turned to him. "What did it show you, by the way?"

"Doesn't matter. It didn't work on me." The Doctor took a breath. "Anyway, whatever great power this place once had has been fading away day by day. Now this whole ship is being held together only by wishes and hopes."

A shiver ran down Martha's spine. "There's nothing alive here, isn't there?"

"Not now," the Doctor agreed. "But one of the Great Old Ones was here once. He died out here, alone and lost, screaming its rage and fury into the deep solitude until its unique power dissipated. Just left a little fading echo, just about enough to give us a glimpse of our heart's desire."

Just then a familiar laughter echoed through the passageway. "And it sounds Baltazar's getting his glimpse," the Doctor gasped. "Come on!"

They set off at a run and soon found Baltazar standing in the middle of a vast hold, and spread out before them were several piles of treasure! "Oh no," the Doctor groaned.

"Look at it!" Baltazar crowed, running his hand through some coins and jewels. "Gold! Diamonds! Treasure, Doctor! There's enough treasure to buy a new ship, a whole fleet. And then I can destroy you, Earth, Volag-Noc and everything in between!"

"Oh, and be Scourge of the Galaxy again?" the Doctor scoffed. "Is that really the best you can think of?"

"It's not real, Baltazar," Martha called out. "It's just an echo of its power."

"He's not listening, Martha," the Doctor sighed, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "This ship's so old and rusted, just held together by wishful thinking. Which makes it easier for me to do this!" And he raised his screwdriver up and pressed the button.

Suddenly the ship began to shudder and shake, and the piles of treasure faded from view.

"What?" Baltazar gasped. "Where is my treasure?"

"I did tell you!" Martha shouted. "What's happening, Doctor?"

"I managed to tap into the main circuitry of this ship and set its generator to overload." Just then a loud explosion shuddered the ship, nearly knocking the Doctor off his feet. "And any minute now, this whole thing's gonna collapse! So, basically… RUN!"

"Come on, Captain Useless!" Martha yelled, dragging Baltazar out of the hold.

Down through the passages they ran, as all around them, the ship began to fall apart. Staircases crumbled behind them, walls bent and buckled, ceilings broke loose and crashed to the floor, making it crack open like an eggshell. Martha and the Doctor got ahead of Baltazar as they finally saw the hole in the _Infinite_'s side.

As they ran out, the Doctor raised his voice. "Squawk, the _Infinite_'s falling apart! Get ready to catch Baltazar the moment the TARDIS disappears!"

"I'm on it, Doctor!" Squawk raced along the asteroid's surface and took off into the cosmos. "Squawk!"

Martha's eyes widened. "Squawk? What is he-?"

"No time, Martha!" The Doctor pushed her towards the TARDIS and flung the doors open. "It's time we weren't here!"

As Martha leapt into the TARDIS, Baltazar emerged from the _Infinite_ and ran towards them, but the Doctor barred his way. "Sorry, Baltazar, we're full up. But don't worry, there'll be another one along in a minute. Cheerio!" And he ducked inside and slammed the doors.

"Doctor, wait!" Baltazar yelled, as the TARDIS began to groan. "You can't leave me here!" But the TARDIS faded away.

Just then, another explosion rocked the asteroid and threw Baltazar off his feet. He could only watch helplessly as the Infinite blew up in a giant ball of flame…

* * *

><p>Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor scurried around the central control console, checking every button and panel was still running then he saw Martha looking towards the doors. "You thinking about Baltazar again?"<p>

"Of course," Martha replied. "I mean, I know that guy was rotten to the core, but still, he doesn't deserve this fate."

"Oh don't worry." The Doctor's eyes twinkled cheekily. "I have left a way out."

* * *

><p>As the asteroid was blown apart by the Infinite's destruction, Baltazar clung on to a fragment drifting into the depths of space. Suddenly he felt something grab onto his jumper and yank him off the rock. He looked up and found himself in Squawk's clutches. "You! Where are you taking me?"<p>

"Where the Doctor says you truly belong," the bronze bird replied, taking off into the cosmos. "Squawk!"

* * *

><p>"Good for you, Doctor!" Martha beamed. "So Squawk has rescued him?"<p>

"Oh yes," the Doctor replied. "Of course, it'd only matter if I didn't know exactly where Squawk was going to drop him off."

* * *

><p>Baltazar couldn't believe his luck. He'd just escaped death only to get carried across the depths of space and end up at, of all places, Volag-Noc. Once Squawk had dropped him off and flown away, he was immediately apprehended by Locke's warders who sentenced him to imprisonment for murder, kidnapping and grand theft TARDIS.<p>

"Curse you, Doctor!" Baltazar bellowed as he was thrown into a prison cell. "Curse you throughout eternity!"

* * *

><p>"Nice one, Doctor!" Martha cheered then she sighed and turned away.<p>

The Doctor looked up from his work and when he saw her face, he came round to join her. "What's wrong?"

Martha just glanced towards the doors. "It's just when I first heard about the _Infinite_, the thought of adventure seemed great. And in the end, I was expecting to… find something wonderful, I don't know. But instead the ship almost used me to power itself. Some treasure…"

The Doctor nodded. "I wasn't expecting too much there. But you know what they say: The thrill of a hunt is in the journey there, not the rewards at the end." A big grin crossed his face. "Searching for your heart's desire, Martha? Never been all it's cracked up to be."

At once, Martha realized that the whole journey hadn't been for nothing. After all, they'd defeated various types of pirates, ended a war and saved countless lives from death. She smiled and turned to the Doctor. "Thank you again, Doctor."

"What for?"

"For yet another brilliant adventure, and for coming to my rescue, of course."

"My pleasure." The Doctor then ran around the console again. "Now then, Martha Jones. I've another job for you."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well…" The Doctor's hand hovered over the controls. "Start giving me some random numbers."

"Oh, not again!" Martha groaned.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" The Doctor's grin grew wider. "I mean, when I have ever let you down?"

And as the Doctor burst out laughing and flicked some switches, sending the TARDIS back into the Time Vortex, Martha knew in her heart that wherever they went, whatever time they'd wound up in, this incredible, impossible man had never once let her down, not now, and certainly not ever…

* * *

><p><strong>Aaannnd, we're done!<strong>

**Thanks to everyone who'd been following this story, however few there were.**


End file.
